Arc's Across Dimensions
by noble4259
Summary: When one Jaune Arc isn't enough, four more from different dimensions come to our hero's aid. A puppy, A time traveler, a Psychopath killer and a Cyborg are all that stand in the way of total chaos. What could go wrong? (Different versions of Jaune owned respectively by, SparkyDapperDab19, Masseffect-Txs, and Blaiseingfire.)
1. Chapter 1

**Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

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"A Deathstalker?! Really?!" Jaune screamed what everyone else was thinking as the Mutated Deathstalker thundered across the arena towards his team and team RWBY.

"Fan out!" Ruby screamed to them all as the knight sprinted to the left of the beast with his team. He winced as the giant claw grazed the back of his head while he rolled out of the way and put his shield up into a defensive position.

His eyes widened as the stinger from the beast wasted no time in recoiling from its last attack and impacted his shield, straining the ancient heirloom as the metal creaked in protest against the monster. His teeth gritted against each other even when his shield gave way as he felt his whole body be thrown through the air. Despite his aura absorbing most of the impact, he gasped due to the sudden expel of oxygen that was driven out of his lungs which caused him to struggle in getting back to his feet. Once he was able to get a feeling of his surroundings, he couldn't help but hitch is breath as the Deathstalker skittered towards him at high speeds, foam falling out of its mouth, ready to gorge itself on a delicious human.

"JAUNE!" Ruby cried as she zipped toward him and fired a few rounds from Crescent rose. Casings hitting the ground until the trigger clicked. The Grimm paid her no mind and swatted her away as it brought itself down on Jaune.

He knew he needed to move, to roll, to dodge, to strike back, but all he could do in those moments were scuttle back as he gripped his heaving chest while his sword dangled in his loose grip. The beast's claw was right above him and as his legs remained planted where he stood, he couldn't help but clamp his eyes shut as he waited for the worst to come. He opened his eyes in confusion to see Pyrrha holding the Grimm's massive claw back, heels digging into the ground as sparks flew from the tough exoskeleton of the beast, grating against Milo and Akuo. Pyrrha's muscles flexed and strained as she shook from the sheer weight of the Grimm. The Deathstalker howled once more and used its legs to spring back in order to use its other claw to slam Pyrrha into a pile of Debris.

"PYRRHA!" Jaune screeched as he finally was able to get control over his body and forced himself to sprint over to where Ruby was due to the mutated grim being between him and his partner. The reaper was reloading another magazine into Crescent Rose, nodding to Jaune as she chambered a new round from the fresh ammunition. Jaune barely noticed the massive shadow loom over them and felt himself being grabbed by Ruby before it crushed them.

"MOVE!" Ruby screamed as he was tackled by Ruby, barely dodging the massive stinger from the mutated Deathstalker. His head rang from both the impact of the tail and the gunfire that erupted from behind and right next to him as the monstrous Grimm roared and it turned around, diverting its attention away from Ruby and Jaune.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Ruby! I need to get to Pyrrha!"

She nodded as an explosion ripped across the floor and they could see Yang throw a boulder a little smaller than herself at the Deathstalker, only managing to piss it off even more.

"Its shell is more armored than a normal Deathstalker! The only way we can damage it is by exposing its underbelly!" Jaune yelled as the Grimm slammed its massive claws into the ground, hurtling debris everywhere.

"Any ideas?" Ruby asked as she and Jaune shielded themselves from the incoming debris.

"I got one," Jaune mentioned as he peeked over his shield, "Nora's explosives are the only thing that can flip that monster onto it's back! Your team will draw its attention while mine makes sure Nora can get underneath that thing and blow it sky high! But first I need to go make sure Pyrrha's alright! Can you hold that thing back long enough for us to regroup?"

The Rose nodded and flashed away in a flurry of petals as he sprinted toward Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora. He stumbled up to them as another wave of debris scratched across his aura and flinched at Pyrrha's wound. The scent of copper invaded his nostrils as Pyrrha tried to stop the flow of blood leaking out of her leg.

He stood there in shock, staring at Pyrrha's wound as blood continued to pour out of it.

'It's all my fault... _'_ Jaune thought as he just stood there, staring at his worried partner. 'I froze. If I did something, anything, this wouldn't have happened!' Jaune slammed his fist into the cold ground as he felt his aura disrupt.

"JAUNE!" Ren hollered over the screeches of the Deathstalker. "Pull yourself together! I'm going to need your help to bandage Pyrrha's wound!" The stoic Ninja followed up, knocking Jaune out of his stupor and the knight ran over to Pyrrha's side, ignoring the blood dripping in between his fingers.

"How bad is it?"

"Not good, but I've had worse." Pyrrha gave a weak smile as she winced and whimpered, still grasping the wound. Jaune saw her aura flicker as she continued to put pressure on the wound. He couldn't help but curse himself as he deduced the impact she took for Jaune took up most of her aura.

"The rebar isn't too deep but we have to remove it quickly and bandage the wound or it'll get infected." Ren spoke as he tore off a piece of his clothes and handed them to Pyrrha.

"This is going to hurt, I'll try to pull it out as steady as I can. Ready?"

She nodded in agreement and bit down on the cloth, holding onto Jaune's hand in anticipation. Sweat began to drip down Ren's forehead as the rebar started to slowly come out. Pyrrha shook and gripped Jaune's hand tightly, so tightly it felt as though it would break. The pain shot through her leg like fire, her muffled screams growing louder as Ren finally pulled the metal from her leg. He quickly applied the disinfectant and bandaged her leg, sighing in relief and wiping his brow

"That should do it. Stay off your leg and the wound won't open back up."

"I can't sit here and watch you fight for your lives!" Pyrrha protested until she felt her leader's hand on her shoulder.

"No, as your leader I'm giving you a direct order to stay here and out of the fight. Ren, stay here with her and make sure she doesn't strain herself. Nora, you're with me! I got a plan to kill that thing!" The two ran off toward the battle, ignoring the protest of their injured teammate. Jaune and Nora grimaced a bit as they saw that RWBY was having little success and that one eye was bleeding profusely on the giant Grimm, but it seemed to be less of an inconvenience for the huge scorpion.

"What's the plan Jaune?" Nora asked as they all regrouped in front of the beast.

"RWBY and I will draw its attention and when you see an opening, you get underneath that thing and blow it onto it's back! Then we'll attack its underbelly!"

Nora nodded and held her position as Jaune brandished his sword and shield, steeling himself as he took one last look towards Pyrrha's direction before charging into the fray.

"My it has been quite entertaining watching the eight of you struggle against my creation. Alas, it's time for me to commence the final stages of my contingency plan." Dr. Merlot cackled as his machine started to whir to life above the Beacon students, the room being encapsulated in brightness.

"Uh...does anyone know what that thing is?!" Ruby yelped as she continued to pepper the Deathstalker with Crescent Rose.

"Of course not, you dolt!" Weiss screamed to her leader as the Deathstalker roared once more.

"Then how do we stop it?!" Yang screamed back as she punched the insect Grimm in the head, barely leaving a dent in on its shell.

"I don't know! Hit it, break it! Whatever just don't let that thing fire!" Weiss yelled as she sent an ice dust storm at the Grimm making it angrier rather than damaging it.

"ON IT!" Yang yelled back as she readied Ember Celica to launch herself up to the machine.

"Yang, Look out!" Jaune shouted to her as the Deathstalker whipped its tail into the blonde bomber, careening her into a wall.

"Yang!" Blake called out for her partner in worry as she ran to Yang.

Jaune stopped and looked up at the massive machine whirring above him. He swallowed as his breathing hitched and steeled himself, feeling the grip of his sword tighten, his legs trembled momentarily before his mind raced back to the image of his partner, taking the hit for him. One last breath slowly escaped his mouth before he planted his feet in a running position.

The knight brought Crocea Mors close and sprinted toward the Deathstalker, the shield covering his body as his mind raced a million miles a second.

'I got one shot at this. I need to use the Deathstalkers strength to propel me up to the machine and destroy it before it fires! I can do this!'

He gave out a battle cry as the Grimm turned around to face its new opponent. The beast gave out another shriek as it smashed the ground where Jaune was just at, and the Arc jumped up onto the monster's claw, holding on with all his strength waiting for the right moment. He felt the Grimm slam it's claw down and waited for it to swing upwards, he felt the sudden g-force against him which was his cue to let go of the Grimm and he couldn't help but let out an uncertain scream as he was launched at the machine.

"Too late children!" Merlot laughed as he activated the machine and the beam shot out, but his laughter quickly died when he saw that the two beams didn't collide with one another, but with the inexperienced blonde knight instead.

"NOOOO! You ignorant brat! You'll ruin EVERYTHING!" Merlot wailed as the collider started to spark and fall apart, no one seemed to notice the five beams that shot up from the machine, breaking through the facilities roof, and headed to different locations in the direction of machine sparked a bit more before a massive explosion erupted throughout the majority of the facility, ripping both the Deathstalker, and Merlot in his observation chamber to shreds.

Jaune fell just beneath the explosion and saw the ground rushing to meet him, wind whipping at his air and closing his eyes. He didn't feel any pain as he opened his eyes and looked up to see Nora posing heroically, holding Jaune closely in a bridal carry while the rest of his friends shielded themselves with a barrier courtesy of Weiss.

"Ha Ha Nora. Could you put me down please?" His voice was hoarse and throat was dry as he coughed violently, the hammer-wielder giggled as she put Jaune down., only for his legs to buckle and Jaune yelped as he fell on his all fours.

"You imbecile!" Jaune heard the muffled cry of Weiss as he looked up to her in a daze. "I said to try and destroy, not jump into the beam! Who knows what that could've done to you?!" Weiss seethed as she stormed over to Jaune and cracked him on the head, though getting no extreme reaction out of him.

"I didn't mean to." Jaune mumbled as he processed what Weiss was trying to get across to him. "I was trying to land over to the side of it and was going to stab it with my sword...but I didn't think the Deathstalker would throw me directly into the beam itself."

"I swear I don't know how you ever got chosen as leader! It was pure luck that you were able to destroy that thing!" the Heiress screeched and shook her head, walking away in frustration. Ruby chased after Weiss as Blake and Yang walked over to Nora and Jaune.

"Gotta say vomit boy, that took some balls. Feeling alright?"

"My entire body feels as if it was burnt from the inside and then electrocuted." Jaune groaned as he struggled to lift himself up. "I can't feel anything right now."

The blonde bomber snickered as she gave him a quick hug and her fellow blonde blushed lightly.

"I'm gonna go help Ruby calm down Weiss-cream. Take it easy vomit boy." Yang walked towards Ruby and Blake followed behind her, nodding in thanks.

Nora helped Jaune over to Ren and Pyrrha, who was staring at Jaune with worry and against Ren's wishes the champion jumped onto Jaune, holding him close.

"Why did you do something so reckless Jaune?!"

"I had to try and destroy that thing." Jaune mentioned timidly under his partner's concerned gaze. "Didn't plan on being a lightning rod though. I still can't feel anything." he couldn't help but give her a sheepish smile at his own joke.

"Pfft!"

"Nora stop laughing! Seriously though, should I be worried that I literally can't feel anything right now?" Unbeknownst to him, Nora wasn't laughing at Jaune but at how Pyrrha was copping a tight feel since his nerves were still out of whack.

"Soon...Soon" Pyrrha thought to herself as she gave Jaune's ass one last squeeze before releasing it.

/

 **(Vale)**

A beam of light collided into the roof of a building, disturbing the serenity of Vale's skyline, and out of the mist, stumbled a well built, familiar looking muscular blonde on one knee with both fists touching the ground. A badass tune from a movie long forgotten played in the background as he stood to his full height and gazed across the rooftops of Vale. His body shook as he rubbed his arm and felt a brisk wind flowing between his legs, looking down and seeing that he's stark naked.

"Where the fuck did my clothes go?!" He screamed to no one as he looked around for his weapons.

"Where's retribution?! Where's executioner and the rest of my gear?! It was all safe and secured to my clothes...Ah son of a bitch!" The blonde gave out a yell of frustration as he took in his surroundings. He scratched his chin for a few moments before he noticed the familiar cityscape in front of him.

"Ok, I'm in Vale so that's a start. I need to find me some clothes first though."

Glass shattered in the distance and the stranger looked over the side, seeing a bar with multiple motorcycles parked outside of it.

"Oh my Oum this is just like that Sarnold Scwarzeneggar movie! The Exterminator!" He leaped down from the building and did his best to put on an emotionless face, though it was a lot harder than Scwarzeneggar made it seem. The blonde entered the bar showing no signs of emotion as he walked up to a man that was similarly built like him.

"I need your boots, your clothes, and your motorcycle." He told the man who burst out laughing alongside his buddies. There was discomfort from some of the patrons, but the blonde resisted to squirm under some of the seductive gazes he received from both men and women in the bar.

"Boy, I think you should git and play prostitute somewhere else before you get yourself hurt!" The biker opened his leather jacket and showed the blonde his .45 caliber atlesian pistol. He pushed his cigar into the stranger's chest and his eyes grew in shock as the man showed no sign of pain.

The stranger grabbed the biker by the throat and choke-slammed him through a table. Another biker hit the blonde in the back of the head with a pool cue, breaking it in half and stepping back when he saw the stranger's aura flare.

"What the hell?! Are you some random streaking hunstman or something?!" His question was answered with a swift jawbreaking punch that sent him flying into a pool table.

The blonde looked down at the other man and took his .45.'

"I need your boots. Your clothes. and your motorcycle." He said in a deep, deadly voice and the biker started to throw off all his clothes and gear, handing the terrifying blonde his keys.

The stranger walked out of the bar fully clothed and sat on top of his new motorcycle. A shotgun went off and the blonde turned around to see the bar owner brandishing a ten-gauge autoloader aimed directly at him.

"I can't have some rando come in and steal another man's bike. Now you give him back his keys and clothes and never come back ya here?!"

The blonde stepped off the bike and walked up to the man, grabbing the shotgun from him in the blink of an eye. He stared down the bar owner and reached into his front pocket, grabbing the sunglasses that were resting in there. He put them on and holstered the shotgun into the bike. He drove away and revved the engine, heading straight to the bullhead docks.

"That was so fucking badass! It was just like the movie!" The man grinned to himself as he flew down the road at high speeds, racing to get to the docks as quickly as possible, ditching the jacket as he felt it to be too on the nose, yet kept the shades.

"Hopefully I can catch a ride to Beacon and ask Ozpin what the hell happened." the blonde mentioned as he grinned at the sight of a Beacon Academy that wasn't in ruin. "Will say though, that this did save me the trip to Vale." his train of thought was cut abruptly as he saw a small yellow dog wander onto the road in front of him. He braked suddenly on instinct and the screeching of the wheels caused the little dog to jump. The man cut the engine as he parked the bike on the side of the street, only to be caught by surprise as the small dog jumped at his legs.

"Hey there little fella, you lost?" He smiled down at the dog and was taken aback when the pup jumped away. It started to growl at him with fierce blue eyes.

"Woah!" The man said as he put his hands up to show he wasn't a threat. "Do you need any help little guy?" The dog's eyes narrowed as it approached the blonde with caution before sniffing him relentlessly.

"Yeah, I may smell a little weird, but believe me when I say it was strictly because of the journey to Vale." The blonde chuckled as he saw the dog jump back and shake its head feverishly before it sniffed the air and pointed in a direction the man noticed was towards his destination.

"What are you trying to say buddy?" The man asked as he proceeded to pick up the adorable dog he knew his sisters would love.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF OUM I SAW TWO WEIRD LOOKING DUDES FIGHTING ONE ANOTHER ON A ROOFTOP DOWN THE STREET!" the puppy hollered out of nowhere, causing the blonde man to freeze in his place.

"Wait, you can talk?" The man's soft question caused the dog's ears to perk up while its eyes widened to the degree of the man.

"Wait, you can understand me?!" the dog asked with a hushed tone, causing the man to freak out.

"Why do you sound like me?!" the man questioned as he quickly paced out of the potential public eye and into a nearby alley.

"Why do you sound like ME?!" the dog retorted, "But also look and smell like me when I'm human?!" the man froze as he looked at the yellow fur of the dog and the deep blue eyes that reflected his own.

"What's your name?" both asked at the same time.

"Jaune Arc." both replied as a deadened silence plagued their conversation, only the breeze gave them the solace from their silence.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" both human and dog screamed at the top of their lungs, ignoring the faint sounds of shotguns being fired and clashing blades could be heard in the distance.

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 **! Out of the blue new story! This is one i've been thinking about ever since I watched the into the spiderverse movie and thought, what If I made a fanfic with Jaune Arc using a similar premise? I've asked Masseffect-TxS, Blaiseingfire and SparkyDapperDab19 for their help and permission to use their versions of Jaune from their respective fanfic stories. I hope you all enjoy! Please Review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Noble: Ok, second chapter! I'm so happy to see all the support for this story and will continue to deliver! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to** Masseffect **-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19** and **Blaiseingfire. Read and Review!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

Masseffect **-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

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(Vale)

Another Beam of light collided into a rooftop and out of the dust walked an armored man, covered head to toe in what seemed to be cybernetics and metal. Light's illuminated all over his body as he gazed across the familiar city.

"What the hell is this? I was at Mountain Glenn trying to stop a White Fang operation why am I back in Vale?!" The cyborg shook his head as he tapped the side of his helmet. His helmet came to life as data started streaming across his visor and a voice sprung to life.

"Hello, agent Sparrow, I thought you had me shut down for the operation?" The A.I. spoke as her face popped in a corner of the man's visor.

"The situation has changed Mercy. An unknown energy force teleported me back here. I need you to splice into all channels to find out if anything similar happened elsewhere."

"Give me a moment...I'm scanning the energy beam residue that took you here and...Got it. One hundred meters to the north there was an exact energy flair identical to the one that brought you here. There is another problem however, your cybernetics have taken some damage from the beam and you're only running at fifty percent maximum efficiency. I would advise resting while I run diagnostics to find the sources to the problems." the cyborg silently cursed at the sudden news before putting a thumb to his chin.

"We'll do it later. Thank you, Mercy. I'm heading there now to investigate." he replied as he hopped off the building.

'I have no idea what is going on, but hopefully, I can have my answers when I get to the other signature.' The cyborg thought as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, moving with efficiency but not as well as he usually did. His movements were more sluggish and more lethargic than usual as he flipped onto another roof.

'Mercy wasn't wrong, I really did take some damage. I'll need to find a workshop after this to work on my armor and limbs later. I wonder if anyone at Beacon would be able to help.' the cyborg's train of thought was halted as he was coming up on the source of the same light he was once encompassed in.

"GAHHHHH! FUCK! WHY IS IT BACK?! WHY DID THE PAIN RETURN?!" the cyborg halted all movement as a voice ripped through the serenity of Vale's skyline. A familiar feeling of dread oozed down the cyborg's artificial back as he noticed the familiar raspiness to the stranger's voice. He peeked over the chimney he took cover behind, only for his eyes to widen behind his visor.

"I had them! I had those fucking traitors nearly dead! Now I'm somewhere in Vale and lost my chance once more to kill those three murdering, disgusting, whores!" the cloaked figure screamed once more as he smashed his hand into the ground, wincing as his skin peeled from his limb and healed once more. Spiderweb cracks formed where he struck the ground and stood to his full height.

"Reaper," the cyborg growled as he leapt from the chimney and brandished his blade, there was no time for the cloaked man to react as the mechanized man let out a sharp roar while plunging the blade into his back. The cyborg's breath hitched as Reaper's back deteriorated into a black mist. This state of confusion was the opportunity needed for reaper to dive forward while pulling out his shotguns, firing them respectively at his opponent. Once the smoke dissipated, The cyborg could hear a grunt of confusion come from his foe.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Stop playing dumb Reaper, you know exactly who I am. Because of you, I failed my last mission! Because of you my classmates nearly died! I will destroy you here and now for what you've done!" Reaper looked on for a few moments before lowering his shotguns, only to slowly and sarcastically clap his hands at the speech he just heard. The cyborg yelled as three shurikens shot out his hand and Reaper let them phase right through him.

"You're gonna need a lot more than something as pitiful as those if you want to kill me." Reaper snarled as he brandished his shotguns and peppered the cyborg with gunfire. The ninja pulled out his wakizashi and deflected all the pellets right back at him. Reaper growled as he threw away his shotguns for fresh ones and phased away.

The cyborg's eyes narrowed as he looked around rapidly, trying to find his enemy with his guard up to the best of his ability, though his sluggish demeanor didn't help him in the slightest.

"Too late." Reaper's raspy voice was all the ninja could hear before the deafening sound from the shotgun blast collided into his back. The cyborg refused to give Reaper the satisfaction of crying out in pain and rolled away, his back sparking as small pieces of metal echoed on the roof.

"Hmmm. Now you got me curious stranger. What's up with your aura?" Reaper asked as the cyborg raised an eyebrow? Did he forget about him so easily?

"Mercy, I need an analysis on him! He seems to be more powerful than last time!" He ordered before brandishing his wakizashi once more in a battle-ready stance and twitching his finger back, telling Reaper to come.

The psychopath growled as his shotguns mechashifted into two machetes and charged straight at his opponent. The cyborg had no time to react to the new upgrade as the two collided with their blades, sparks flying as the two pushed back against one another, fighting for dominance. The metal grated against each other and the ninja let go of his blade suddenly, making Reaper fall forward. The cyborg caught the blade in midair and slashed Reaper with it, making the terrorist's body spurt with black mist as he let out a cry in pain.

"Ok...I'll give you this, you're a smart little shit. But that attack did nothing. You can't kill me...because I'm already dead!" Reaper bolted in a stream of smoke and appeared before his enemy while he attacked in full force, overwhelming his opponent with quick successive strikes. The cyborg could barely hold off the onslaught of his opponent and the Reaper knew this. With one final slash, reaper broke through his opponent's guard and embedded his blade into the cyborg's shoulder.

"AHHH...DAMMIT..." He breathed weakly as the terrorist continued to push the machete deeper and deeper. The Ninja pulled out three ninja stars and completely cut off the Reaper's arm, giving him his chance to slip away.

"FUCK! Damn...no matter how many times it happens, it always hurts like a bitch." Reaper said to himself as he planted his eyes back on his enemy. The psychopath couldn't see it, but the Cyborg's eyes widened in complete disbelief as sweat brimmed on his forehead, dripping onto his helmet as the arm he just severed from the Reaper's body regrew completely.

"Analysis complete agent Sparrow. The only way to possibly hurt him is by an aura-based attack."

"There's one problem with that Mercy, my body is only running at half efficiency! I can't use my aura in this state!"

"Then you'll have to use your emergency aura supply. If you continue as you are, you will die. This adversary is too much for you at half strength."

The cyborg shook his head and breathed in deeply while gripping the Katana on his back. The Reaper walked forward slowly, smirking in victory as he grated his blades together, taunting his enemy.

"Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I unshackle myself and by my blade, vanquish thee!" The cyborg roared as his blade became enveloped in aura and charged straight at Reaper. The terrorist did the same and collided with his opponent's blade once more, sparks showering from the impact.

"So you think using your aura will save you?!" Reaper taunted as he pushed harder against the ninja's sword.

"SHUT-UP!" The cyborg grunted as he fell to one knee, feeling his leg give out.

"One thing I learned from this personal hell, stick to one handed weapons. Let's you use the other hand." The cyborg gasped as the psychopath gave out one last primal scream. Reaper ducked down and slammed his fist into the cyborg's chest and followed up by ripping the Katana from his opponent's hands before he sliced upwards with his blades, knocking the ninja's helmet off. The cyborg landed on the cold ground in a heap, feeling the cool concrete against his face as he struggled to get up. His body screamed in protest, his back still sparking, and his shoulder leaking blood through the metal.

Reaper stomped on his back, breathing hard as he leveled one of his shotguns with the blonde head of his opponent.

"You gave me a good fight." Reaper muttered as he pressed the barrel against the blonde's head. "But you never had a chance to begin with anyway." The Reaper turned over the cyborg and recoiled in horror. His red eyes widened to unprecedented proportions.

"What's your name?" Reaper asked slowly before his red eyes reverted back to blue for a brief moment. The cyborg coughed as he looked back at him with equal shock at his eyes through the mask and swallowed.

"Jaune Arc, and you?" cyborg Jaune noticed the grip on Reaper's shotgun tighten.

"...Jaune Arc."

The two sat in silence, staring at one another in disbelief before another familiar voice interrupted them.

"Both of you stop fighting!"

The two turned to see another Jaune Arc in a gray t-shirt and jeans who had a puppy next to him.

"These the two you saw fighting?"

"Yep. Told you they looked like weirdos."

"Did...did that dog just talk?" Cyborg Jaune asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Why does he sound like me… us." Reaper corrected as he got a blank stare from the other Jaunes.

"Oh for the love of...YES I can talk! And I'm also Jaune Arc but I'm cursed to turn into this furry monstrosity!" the dog yapped at both of them as the Jaune he came with looked down with a raised eyebrow.

"His semblance is that he can turn into a dog." Reaper blankly said as he holstered his shotgun in his coat. Re-Jaune tapped his own nose with a smirk while Puppy Arc just grumbled. Reaper was about to let out a short snort of laughter, but Cyborg Jaune took this opportunity to scramble to his feet and reach for his Katana. Reaper didn't do anything drastic, but was ready for anything at that moment. Re-Jaune took a breath and stepped forward.

"Seriously guys this can't be the strangest thing you've seen today, I mean who would think that you'd come face to face with yourself?" Re-Jaune chuckled as he and puppy Arc walked over to them. The other two got on their feet and stared at one another, still not believing what they were seeing. Cyborg Jaune wearily sheathed his blade as he picked up his helmet, though glaring at Reaper while doing so.

"Ok...let's lay down the groundwork here...did all of you get transported by a beam of light?" Reaper jaune asked as he shrugged off the tension and the other three Arcs nodded.

"And we have no idea why?" he continued. The three nodded once more.

"So is this Vale not the Vale from our respective... places. Whatever I have no idea how to rationalize this." Reaper finished as he shivered a bit, forgetting the pain that came with him. "Any of you get fucked up during the trip?"

"Language." Puppy Arc interrupted while Reaper flipped the dog off.

"I lost most of my gear." Re-Jaune said as he refused to tell any of them, he arrived stark naked.

"I'm running below my preferred optimal performance." Cyborg Jaune muttered.

"I haven't turned back into a human yet… and I can talk." Puppy Arc mentioned as he sniffed his new selves.

"Sweet Oum, This is messing with my head way too much," Reaper said as he was still trying to wrap his head around the situation. "Can't even make heads or tails of any of this."

"Me neither." Cyborg Jaune said as he looked over the rooftop to make sure the authorities hadn't come yet. During that time, Re-Jaune spoke up.

"Look we're just as clueless as you are, but I think our best bet is to head to Beacon and-"

"NO!"

The other three looked at Reaper Jaune with surprise as their fellow Jaune continued.

"I am not going back there..."

"It's our best chance at finding out where we are! What if there is another Jaune that lives here?! We need to find this out so we can see if this is one of our...universes, I'll just call it universes."

"So you're saying we all come from different universes? That we all are different versions of Jaune Arc?" Cyborg Jaune added and Re-Jaune sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration.

"It's just a theory here guys, I'm just spitballing. Look, Reaper Jaune,"

"Reaper." The masked Jaune grumbled.

"Fine, Reaper." Re-Jaune rolled his eyes. "If we want to find out how to get back home, we'll need to start somewhere. Beacon is our first good lead, so swallow whatever bad blood you have there because you're not the only one who doesn't trust Ozpin!" Re-Jaune quickly seethed, letting his aura pressure leak out shocking the other three from the sheer amount. He realized how much of his temper he let slip and calmed down quickly before he coughed, regaining his composure.

"Uh sorry. Didn't mean for that happen. Let's get off this roof and head toward Beacon." Re-Jaune could tell Reaper wasn't completely on board with this, but turned his attention to the cyborg who walked forward.

"How do you propose we all get in? Clearly, there is going to be concern if two masked men show up at a school." Re-Jaune nodded and scratched the back of his head, waiting for an idea to come. He suddenly turned to the two new Jaunes and snapped his fingers.

"I'll pose as Jaune and you two...will be my cosplaying friends from high school!" both the cyborg and Reaper looked through their masks with blank stares.

"That has to be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard." Reaper Jaune sighed in defeat.

"Alright, let's go then." Re-Jaune started before wincing. "I only have a motorcycle soo."

"I could run there almost as fast as a car but my body is too damaged from fighting." Cyborg Jaune said as he glared toward Reaper. "We'll need transportation."

"We could always steal a car." Reaper Jaune shrugged.

"I think that'd be unwise. We just got to this world, we don't want to be breaking the law already." The cyborg chastised.

"Uh...Yeah! Don't wanna steal things that aren't yours!" Restart Jaune swallowed and tugged at his collar, being guilty of exactly what the cyborg said not to do.

"Well, there's always one thing you could use." Puppy Arc spoke up as the two looked at him.

"And what's that?"

 **(Twenty minutes later)**

"This is humiliating." Cyborg Arc and Reaper Arc said in unison as they sat in the back of a bus. The two sat in silence as they tried to ignore the amount people staring at them. Reaper leaned in to whisper to Cyborg Jaune.

"Ya know, I could take off my mask and scare the piss out of them. It'd make them stop staring."

"We're already drawing enough attention, we don't need more. Besides we're only five minutes away from the docks." Cyborg Jaune mentioned as his back sparked a bit, earning a startled cry from a passenger.

"I believe you are stressed with the situation despite your calm demeanor." Mercy said to Cyborg Arc who sighed and rested his head on the window.

"Of course I'm stressed. I've been taken from my world and thrown into another...I'm worried about Pyrrha, she must be worried sick."

"Knowing you, you'll find a way back soon. You're too stubborn to let something like this hold you back." Mercy gave him a smile emoticon, making him smirk a bit, but didn't notice his reluctant compatriot looking away at the mention of Pyrrha.

"Stop for bullhead docks!" The bus driver yelled as the two Arcs stood up and upon exiting the vehicle came to face to face with their fellow Arcs.

"Man took you two long enough." Re Jaune chuckled as he ate the cone from the Ice cream he was eating. Puppy Arc was scarfing down a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's ice cream and looked up at them with melted ice cream on his snout. The two gave him a deadpan look and the puppy just shrugged his paws, continuing to eat.

"Are you done playing dog owner?"

"He was hungry. How'd you like it if you were a dog and couldn't buy any food for yourself?"

Reaper shrugged as the four of them walked to the Beacon bullhead area. It took them about an hour, but they finally found one and walked up to the pilot.

"Hello sir, I'm Jaune Arc from Beacon academy and I need a bullhead ride for myself and my friends here."

The pilot stared at the strange group, swearing on his life that a kid just like the one in front of him was on his previous flight, but being a pilot for huntsman and huntresses in training, he's seen weirder. Like one time when he saw a corgi bite a Beowolf's arm off at the breach.

"Alright get on," he sighed. "I'll need some Beacon Identification though."

"Uhhhh." Re Jaune said as he looked to the others for help, but to no avail.

"Guh, damn kids. Always losing your IDs. Tell me your name and year please." The pilot asked as he pulled up a tablet.

"Jaune Arc, freshman at Beacon."

It took a minute or two before the pilot nodded and waved them to get on the ship. He'd soon regret letting them on...

 **(One longer than usual bullhead Ride later)**

"GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY SHIP!" The pilot screamed as the four sprinted out of the vomit covered bullhead, the ship reeking of puke and dog urine. The four Arc's let their insides out as whatever contents that were in their stomachs before were now one with the pavements.

"Huh. We really are all Jaune Arc." Cyborg Jaune mentioned as he wiped the vomit away and shakily put his helmet back on.

"It hurts… It fucking hurts." Reaper said as he had no idea why he regained his air sickness, though hurling what remained of his lunch up wasn't something he wanted to relive.

"Why did you piss inside the bullhead?!" Re-Jaune yelled at Puppy Arc as he stifled the vomit from rearing its disgusting head again.

"Dude I'm usually never a dog this long! I can't help it if my body does shit without me thinking about it!"

The four pocketed that bit information and shook off their vertigo before they all took a long look at Beacon tower.

'It's in one piece...I...I never thought I'd ever see it again.' Re-Jaune thought to himself as he bit back tears that threatened to leak out.

"Alright so what do we do from here?" the cyborg asked and Re-Jaune shook himself and smacked his cheeks.

"We need to get to JNPR and RWBY's dorms. They're the only ones that can help us. Plus, we have no money and can't afford to live anywhere soooo."

"Got it. Bumb off our teammates and hope that they keep us a secret." Reaper grumbled as he kept his arms folded, glaring at the entirety of the school.

"Exactly. So, let's see if anyone's home."

The four walked through Beacon's halls, Restart Jaune reigned in his emotions and stopped himself from reliving his previous life and all the good memories that came with it. The group finally made it to JNPR's dorm and cyborg Jaune listened to hear any noise.

"I don't hear anything. We're good to go in."

"Great, thanks man." Re-Jaune nodded as he barged through the door and immediately froze. All of them halted in their tracks as they could barely see with all the steam entering from the bathroom, though Re-Jaune's motor functions refused to move as he saw a sight he hadn't seen in so many years. Pyrrha Nikos, the one that kissed him before she died, the one that always was with his side until that Fall bitch took her away from him, the one who never left his memory, even after having a restart of his life…

Was in nothing but a towel right before him, confused out of her mind and a blush on her face.

Re-Jaune couldn't speak. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, trying to get a word out.

"J-Jaune?! I told you I was showering! W-why are you back?!" It looked like steam was coming off of Pyrrha's head as she looked at the entourage in front of her.

"Gah! Can't see through the condensation!" Cyborg Arc shouted as he pulled off his helmet and looked at Pyrrha as well, making a mental note that this version of his girlfriend looked the exact same.

That was the final nail in the coffin as the champion's eyes rolled back, fainting. Cyborg Arc dashed and caught her, not moving her towel to protect her modesty.

"Hello?! Earth to other Jaune? Wake up!" Puppy Arc shouted as he chomped at Re-Jaune's leg.

Restart Jaune shook his head and saw that Pyrrha was now unconscious laying on her bed.

"Uh...that could've gone better." Re-Jaune mentioned as his hands were still shaking, though it didn't stop him from glaring at the cyborg. "And you told me that no one was in here!"

"My cybernetics must've been more damaged than I thought." Cyborg Jaune scratched his head sheepishly in embarrassment.

The door opened once more and in came another Jaune Arc, who looked up to see two Jaune's, a blonde dog and hooded guy with a skull, all surrounding his unconscious partner who was in nothing but a towel.

"What the...who the hell are you guys?!" Jaune screamed as they heard footsteps run down the hall and in came Ren and Nora whose eyes widened when seeing two men that looked exactly like their leader. Silence hung in the air until a certain dog didn't learn to keep his mouth shut.

"Well this is awkward."

* * *

 **Sparky: Also, for the difference in Noble's writing style, I've offered my help in parts where we agreed detail could be used more. It's like a combination of both of our writing styles and story-telling. We hope you all enjoyed this.**


	3. Chapter 3

**tNoble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaiseingfire. Read and Review!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS** : **Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

Did...That dog just talk?" Ren said in disbelief as Nora rushed over to the yellow dog and smothered him into her chest, all while the puppy had wide eyes for what was to come.

"He's adorable! I wanna keep him!" Nora squeezed as Puppy Arc let out a sudden gasp.

"Hey! Hands off dammit! Only Pyrrha holds me like this!" Puppy Arc struggled to wriggle out of the bomber's grip, but to no avail.

"You sound exactly like Jaune! Why do you sound like our fearless leader?!" Nora yelled with a smile as she held the pup at arm's length, to which the dog stared blankly at his teammate.

"That's because I AM Jaune Arc!" He yapped at Nora and tried to gnaw on her fingers but couldn't from how tightly she was holding him.

"ALRIGHT!" everyone's attention was turned to the Jaune Arc the other four were looking for. "I have no clue what is happening, but enough of this madness!" Jaune walked forward to the other Arc that looked just like him, but with a gray shirt and jeans.

"I swear we wouldn't be bothering you if this wasn't important," Re-Jaune said as he tried to calm his original counterpart down with raised hands. "But right now, all of us are just as confused as you are, this just sounded like the best idea at the time." Re-Jaune mentioned as Jaune's frustration and confusion was only rising, especially with the cyborg and hooded figure looming over Pyrrha's unconscious form.

"Really? Jeopardizing my identity and possibly causing a scene to get to Beacon just to see me was your best idea?"

"Don't act like it wouldn't be the first thing you would do if you were one of us." Reaper grumbled as he turned towards Jaune, causing the blonde knight's confidence to waiver. Jaune looked to his other counterparts, to which he received nothing but blank stares. In that moment, there was a twinge of believability that they were actually him.

"No." Jaune said as he shook his head. "No, No, I don't buy this, I want you all out of here right now." the blonde knight pointed to the door as he glared at the sudden visitors. Re-Jaune looked doubtful of what to do next, Cyborg Jaune decided to keep his concern on Pyrrha's well-being, and Puppy Arc had no say in the matter as Nora's grip on him was tighter than a beartrap meant for an Ursa.

"Not your choice to make." Reaper grumbled, earning the attention of Jaune and his teammates. Reaper looked back at them, confident in his statement, though he succeeded in concealing his shaky demeanor when it came to Ren and Nora, two faces he once declared as family.

"We don't know how, but you got us into this mess, and you're going to help us get back." Reaper continued as he turned his gaze back to Jaune, whose arms were folded.

"You're another version of me as well?" Jaune asked as he rose an eyebrow, to which Reaper chuckled.

"You know it Vomit Boy."

"Funny, cause out of the four of you, you don't look or sound like me at all." red eyes narrowed at sapphire as Reaper took a few steps toward Jaune. The hooded man noticed Ren's hands twitch in anticipation if he did anything drastic, different reality or not, respect was won once again in his brother he never had.

"You really want to go there?" Reaper whispered as he leaned into Jaune's ear, earning wide eyes from the blonde as the psychopath did his best to revert his voice back to what it once was. "Maybe we should have a talk about those transcripts of yours." a bead of sweat began to trickle down Jaune's neck as Reaper stayed where he was.

"Reaper calm down!" Re-Jaune called to his companion, trying to reign him in.

"How about it?" Reaper ignored the others as he remained next to Jaune's ear. "Want to see where this road takes you?" He taunted and Jaune didn't move an inch, still confused and suddenly frightened as to what was going on.

"That's enough." Cyborg Jaune grabbed Reaper's shoulder and looked at the other Jaune. Reaper stepped away and shoved his shoulder into the cyborg, walking over to the wall and leaning back on it.

"Is he always like this?" Nora deadpanned as she gave Reaper a glare.

"We've only known him for a bit, but he definitely is the edgelord of the group." Puppy Arc mentioned through strained breaths in Nora's grasp

"Sorry about that," the cyborg said as he walked towards the knight. "Believe me when I say he's the most violent out of the four of us."

"Last time I checked, you attacked me." Reaper spoke up, but got no recognition from the cyborg.

"Names Jaune Arc, if you couldn't already tell." Jaune looked towards the cyborg with disbelief as he turned toward the one in the gray shirt.

"Jaune Arc as well." was all he said as Jaune's gaze turned to the puppy.

"It's better to just come to terms that in some way, we're different versions of you." Puppy Arc said as he was finally getting some wiggle room.

Jaune couldn't speak as he tried to process what was in front of him. Four different versions of himself stood in front of him, all of them looking completely different but still sharing the same voice, eyes, hair, and face. Except for Reaper who still had his mask on and the puppy version of him was still a puppy.

"Look, we know you want answers, but we're just as clueless as you are. Why don't we all calm down and take a seat?" Re-Jaune reasoned with the politest voice as possible, not wanting the situation to get worse.

Ren looked to his leader and Nora did the same, still cradling the talking yellow puffball who had given up struggling and was accepting his fate.

Jaune looked at his teammates and back at the other Arcs, sighing in defeat, though letting the hooded Jaune's words ring in his head.

"Alright, you win. Let's start from the beginning. How'd you guys get here?" Jaune asked and Re-Jaune nodded.

"From what happened to each of us, we were all transported here by some random beam of light. Each one of us was affected by it differently." the rest of the Jaune's grumbled at the painful and annoying truth of the matter. "We all landed relatively close to one another in Vale and found each other not long after. We took a bullhead here to look for help from the only people we knew that could. All of you."

Jaune nodded in understanding but still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Who else could say that they met four different versions of themselves?

A groan sounded from Pyrrha as she sat up from the bed, to which every Jaune turned and gave her their full attention.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she rubbed her head. "I...I had such a weird dream. I stepped out of the shower and saw two Jaunes." She said to herself and looked over to see that there were three Jaune's now. The one she knew took a step toward her, while the one in the gray shirt froze in his place, and the cyborg just waved with a nervous smile. Her eyes rolled back as she fainted again as her head hit the soft bed.

"Despite being foreseen, that still could have gone better." Cyborg Jaune mentioned as his gaze softened at the sight of Pyrrha's sleeping form.

"I wonder how many times that will happen." Reaper chided as he smirked beneath his mask. "You guys don't mind stopping by my world and doing this to my Pyrrha when we're done?" a little chuckle escaped through his mask, though he only received narrowed eyes from the cyborg.

"Pyrrha's gonna be in heaven as soon as she stops fainting." Nora whispered to her partner who despite the poor timing of Nora's joke, nodded and chimed in on the conversations.

"Thank you for telling us how you got here, but do you have an explanation as to what brought you here other than the light?"

Re-Jaune shook his head and so did the other two. Puppy Arc tried but he was being crushed by Nora.

"You guys alright?!" Ruby's voice could be heard as the door swung open. "Blake could hear you guys yelling and we came running! Did something happ-!" Team RWBY piled into the room and all froze at the sight of seeing three Jaune's.

"Oh, by the Gods." Re-Jaune said as he facepalmed.

"The plot thickens." Ren said as he tried to alleviate some tension, but to no avail, as his Jaune just rose an unamused eyebrow. Though both students shivered as they felt the temperature drop a bit.

Reaper Jaune stopped leaning against the wall and started walking menacingly toward WBY with his eyes growing brighter than before with rage. Re-Jaune grabbed him by the wrist and bore his eyes into his counterpart. There was a brief moment of silence as Re-Jaune refused to falter under the boiling rage of Reaper. Everyone else either looked confused or scared at the sudden transgression before Reaper ripped his arm from Re-Jaune's grasp and turned towards the wall next to Pyrrha's bed.

"Sorry about that." Re-Jaune said as he turned back to the others, only to once again freeze as his gaze laid upon team RWBY, the ones that gave their lives in the battle against Salem. Seeing their faces for the first time in so long, he couldn't help but feel his heart leap into his throat, preventing him from saying a word.

"You okay?" Ruby asked with some concern as she walked up to Re-Jaune with those same silver eyes that cared for him at his absolute worse. He gave no audible answer, only resisted the urge to hug her.

"Aaaaaand he's out again too." Puppy Arc said as he was able to catch Nora by surprise and leap out of her tyrannical grasp consisting of coos and cuddles. The pooch noticed Weiss with wide eyes before he rolled his and aimed his paw downward, trying to point to himself.

"Yep. Talking dog who is also Jaune Arc." he seriously did not want to go through another round of explaining his situation. Ruby and the rest of her team looked to the cyborg with Jaune's face, only for him to nod, same with the masked man.

"For some reason, he's been having a hard time meeting any of you, but I can vouch for him and say he is also Jaune Arc." the puppy continued as he walked over to Re-Jaune's leg. "Hold on a second, gotta bring him back to reality again," Weiss was about to ask what on Remnant was going on, but was cut off as the dog chomped on Re-Jaune's leg.

"OW!" Re-Jaune said as he brought back his knee while Puppy Arc took a step back. "Oh." Re-Jaune said as he looked back to everyone who were all in desperate need of answers. "Sorry about that." he followed up, only to be met with the same gazes of confusion.

"Alright, let's take it from the top!" Re-Jaune sighed as he told them exactly what he'd just told JNR. The conversation consisted of wide eyes, tons of denial, and mostly confusion from everyone.

"So, you're saying that all of you are in some different way, all Jaune Arc?" Blake asked with skepticism.

"YES." Puppy Arc said as he slumped on the ground, tired of the conversation. "It's like he didn't just get through explaining this." Re-Jaune shared the puppy's sentiment as he was also growing tired.

"This is insane!" Ruby said as she used her semblance to bolt across the room and pressed her Jaune and Re-Jaune's heads together. "You two look so identical!" Jaune struggled to break free from Ruby's hyper demeanor, while Re-Jaune was still trying to take in the fact that Ruby was alive.

"Well I don't mean to put our Jaune down, but you guys are certainly an upgrade." Yang said as she eyed the three Jaune's who were human with a flirtatious gaze, only for her smile to abruptly end when she met the hooded man's eyes that brimmed with anger.

"Who's a good boy?! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Weiss cooed with Nora as the two petted and scratched puppy Arc who was laying on his back, allowing the two to scratch his belly.

'This is the life.' Puppy Arc thought to himself as he panted in pleasure while his hind leg wiggled in the air.

"So are you four stuck here?" Blake asked, bringing back the topic at hand as the Jaune's looked at her.

"Uh, yeah." Re-Jaune said. "We still have no idea what brought us here so we're stuck here until we find a way home. That means we need a place to sleep." a sudden spark came from the Cyborg, causing Ruby and Puppy Arc jump with fright.

"And to make repairs. My cybernetics sustained major damage when teleporting here."

"And because we'll need to eat somewhere too without causing a commotion!" The puppy had his fill of belly rubs and sat down with his fellow arcs yawning cutely as he stretched his tiny body.

"We'll need to gather information too. Because whatever brought us here has to be the ticket home we need." The hooded psychopath said with exhaustion evident in his voice.

"Do you need us to schedule an appointment with the headmaster?" Weiss asked and immediately noticed how Reaper Jaune and Re-Jaune flinched at the mention of Ozpin.

"I'm not talking to him. I'll be there but I am not talking to that man." Re-Jaune's voice became low as his hands balled up into fists.

"Ditto. I don't trust that son of a bitch."

"Language!" Ruby and Puppy Arc yelled in unison, high fiving paw to hand. Reaper just stared at them both, giving the finger to Puppy Arc and rolling his eyes at Ruby.

"I'll speak with him. All four of us must be there. I was working with Ozpin before I was transported and don't mind talking to him. I am curious as to why you two don't trust him but that's a whole different conversation for another time. Ruby, could you please get us a meeting?"

"Would Jaune Arc please come to Headmaster Ozpin's office? Jaune Arc to Ozpin's office." the intercom announced throughout the dorms, perking up every Jaune in the room.

"I guess we don't need that appointment." Puppy Arc said, breaking the silence of how coincidental their timing was.

"What did you guys do?" Jaune said flatly as he stared at his four counterparts, Re-Jaune being the hardest to hide his poker face.

"Besides fighting each other and using the bus to get here, nothing really stands out." Reaper lied as he glared at the cyborg.

"Wait!" Nora shouted, getting everybody's attention. "What do we call you guys?" she asked as the four looked at each other.

"Jaune?" they all guessed as they stared back at her with honest answers. RWBY and JNR all were not having it as they folded their arms.

"Not happening." Jaune said as he was not happy about any of this.

"I guess you could just call me Arc for now." Re-Jaune shrugged.

"Jaune is what I usually go by, but Sparrow or Cyborg will do for now." Cyborg Jaune added.

"Puppy Arc I guess." the pooch continued. "I'm not good with coming up with names. No, Nora, you cannot rename me." the bomber deflated at his sudden comment.

"Reaper." the hooded arc said.

"Edgy much?" Yang asked sarcastically, only to be answered with a grunt.

'So cool.' Ruby thought as she loved that name and wanted to know what weapons he used.

"Guys!" Jaune said with a bit of irritation. "Don't we have to go to Ozpin right now?"

"Technically," Puppy Arc said as he walked up to Jaune. "You were the only to be called." Jaune rolled his eyes as he picked up the dog and began heading to the office, only for the rest of the Jaunes to follow.

 **(Ten minutes later.)**

Jaune and the four alternate Jaunes rode the elevator in silence. Puppy Arc licked himself, trying to clean off the dried-up Pumpkin Pete's ice cream on his fur. Reaper tapped his foot, not wanting to show how nervous he was to meet with Ozpin. Re-Jaune had his eyes closed, breathing in deeply as he reigned in his emotions. Cyborg Jaune was looking at the diagnostics Mercy had sent him after filling out her report of the damages with his helmet on, and Jaune was shifting nervously, though tired from both his previous mission and the confusion that still racked his brain.

The elevator dinged and before the doors opened, Reaper dissipated into smoke and traveled upward through the emergency exit on the ceiling. Jaune was about to shout in protest before all the other Jaunes sans the cyborg groaned, knowing this would probably happen, chasing after their masked counterpart.

"What are they doing?!" Jaune said as the doors began to open. Cyborg Jaune sighed as he put a hand on his fellow blonde's shoulder.

"Just give them a minute." the cyborg said as he stepped out of the elevator with Jaune. "From what I know is that the two of them have bad blood with Ozpin and Beacon. I'm assuming the two them are going to try to bring him back. We can explain our situation while they get Reaper back." Jaune groaned in frustration as he walked forward.

"Mr. Arc." both Jaunes were greeted to the stern voice of Glynda Goodwitch, while Ozpin remained silent in his chair. "Did I not make it clear that it was just you to be present? Who is this person?" both were silent for a few moments as they desperately thought of a way to explain their situation.

"How about we start with a different topic at hand?" Ozpin said with his signature cool and collected attitude as he took a sip of his coffee. Jaune nodded as he and the cyborg came closer to the headmaster's desk.

"Is something wrong, Professor Ozpin?" Jaune asked as the headmaster set his mug down.

"You tell me, Mr. Arc ." Ozpin started. Jaune let out a confused noise while Cyborg Jaune remained still as he could be, though the glare from Goodwitch wasn't helping his situation.

"You stated in your report that after your mission at Merlot's laboratory, you and your team headed back here immediately, correct?"

"Yes sir." Jaune said while the cyborg rose his eyebrows at the sudden information. He was about to ask further, but could faintly hear slight rumbling and voices coming from the elevator.

"Then could you explain the reports I have been getting in the past hour?" Jaune once more gave the headmaster a confused look as Ozpin opened his scroll and placed it on his desk, revealing an article that made both Jaunes squirm in their seats.

"Biker Gang Bashed by Buck Naked Blonde." both Arcs gaped at the dust web article as a picture of a naked Jaune Arc with blurred private parts was choking a biker. Neither of them said a word for a few seconds before the cyborg snapped his fingers.

"That's how he got the motorcycle." Cyborg Jaune whispered. Jaune, on the other hand, was at teetering along the lines of panicking and dying of embarrassment, all while the rustling from the elevator got louder.

"Not to mention the report I got from the pilot who claimed you and a few compatriots...sullied his airship with your nausea." Goodwitch added as Jaune facepalmed and the Cyborg flinched under his helmet, not wanting to remember that accident.

"So, could you please explain these incidents if you don't mind, Mr. Arc?" Jaune was frozen in place from the humiliating scene before him, his mouth opening and closing with no words coming out. All while Glynda and Ozpin waited for an answer.

"Dude! You need to grow a pair and get down there!" a sudden voice came from the elevator, alerting the huntress and piquing the headmaster's interest.

"No way!" the other raspy voice shouted. "I told you I'm not talking to that four-eyed son of a bitch!" Ozpin's face morphed into slight confusion at the sudden remark.

"It's not like any of us have a choice!" another voice shouted.

"Get off me you damn mutt!" the raspy voice said as nothing but growling and sharp yaps could be heard soon after.

Ozpin looked at the two people in front of him, both humiliated but by different reasons. Ozpin sighed as he nodded to Glynda, who briskly made her way to the elevator, irritation radiating off of her.

Goodwitch growled a bit as she noticed the bumps and shouts were coming above the elevator and with a flick of her riding crop, her semblance unhinged the emergency exit.

"AAAGGH!" all the voices cried out as two people and a dog fell from the exit and tumbled out of the elevator. Glynda had her arms folded, clearly not pleased at their uninvited guests.

"Sweet Oum," the blonde in the gray shirt said as he shook his blonde hair, "Can this day not get any shittier?" the blonde looked up to see Glynda Goodwitch, now with wide eyes full of shock.

"You just had to say that didn't you?" Puppy Arc said as he let go of Reaper's dissipating ankle and trotted his way over to the cyborg. "Sorry about that, what did we miss?" he asked before jumping into Cyborg Jaune's lap. He turned his head to see a Headmaster Ozpin with raised eyebrows and wide eyes, though no other reaction came from him.

"Yes, the dog can talk." Jaune said as he had his face buried in his hands. Ozpin looked over to Glynda, who was still stunned by the talking dog and two people that were recovering from their fall.

"Mr. Arc," Ozpin started as he straightened his glasses.

"Yes?" Jaune, the dog, and Re-Jaune said as he walked past Glynda and joined the rest of them, to which the Headmaster was taken by surprise yet again. They all saw the headmaster take a breath to reassure himself before looking up at the Jaune he was most familiar with.

"May I ask why there is another.., you, here before us?"

"Actually…" the cyborg finally said as he removed his helmet, revealing himself to be Jaune Arc as well.

"Oh my Oum." Goodwitch said as she felt a massive migraine coming her way.

Reaper finally made his way toward the group and soon enough, all of them were facing Ozpin, though two of them refused to meet his gaze.

"Professor," Jaune said as he tried to wipe the frustration from his face, "Let me introduce you to Jaune Arc." as he said that, all of them begrudgingly or willingly waved at him.

A few minutes passed as the five of them sat in silence, waiting for Ozpin or Glynda to say something. Both of them were wide-eyed and completely speechless, not being able to speak.

"Uh are you two going to say anything or what?" Puppy Arc asked and the two were still utterly shocked. staring at the talking dog with a lack of believability and curiosity.

The headmaster coughed and regained his composure, pushing up his glasses and examined each version of Jaune. He noted the air of tension around both the hooded figure and Jaune Arc's doppelganger, while Puppy Arc and Cyborg Jaune looked completely calm.

"I have seen many things in my time, but I will have to admit that I have never seen what I am seeing right now. How about you Glynda?" The headmistress shook her head and looked at her superior.

"I...am at a loss of words. I can only ask...How?" Cyborg Jaune stood up from his chair and looked at the two, his helmet to at his side.

"We are not completely sure. Each one of us was transported here by a white beam of light. That is all we know. The four of us are different versions of the Jaune Arc as you can see." Re-Jaune nodded at the cyborg's words, but paled a bit when he saw the internet article of him at the bar.

The two adults processed the information that they were given, looking at the four new Jaunes.

"Do the four of you need a place to stay? Is that why you came here?" Glynda asked with a bit of caution.

"More or less." the cyborg replied as he looked at the rest of them. "We are just trying to find our way back home. Though that goal would be more than difficult at our current situation." there was a pause as Ozpin scanned each of them. The masked man and the one who looked just like his student bothered him the most, but it was against his nature to seize an opportunity.

"Of course. I would like to know about all four of you in time but it's obvious you're all exhausted." the five Jaunes all nodded in agreement while the headmaster gave them an amused smirked. "I have a visitor's room you can use and it's on the same floor as Teams RWBY and JNPR. I assume you have already met them?" all of them nodded, though Jaune was not happy at that revelation. "go to them for anything you need. I"ll have three scrolls ready for you all in the morning. We will discuss more another time."

Cyborg Jaune nodded and his fellow Arcs followed.

"Mr. Arc?"

The five turned around in unison.

"My mistake, the Jaune Arc I know. Could you stay for a bit longer? I wish to ask you about the Merlot incident."

Jaune nodded and waved his fellow Jaunes goodbye, though all of them sans the cyborg grew confused at that name.

"That was easily the most shocking thing I've ever seen. Four different Jaune Arcs standing in front of them."

"They are going to be a handful, I just know it." Glynda took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.

"You may leave Glynda. I just need to ask Mr. Arc a few questions."

The Headmistress nodded and left briskly, leaving the two men alone as the cyborg held the door open for the huntress.

"Now Mr. Arc, what exactly happened during the mission?" Ozpin asked as he wanted to get to the point of the matter. "What did you do after Merlot activated his machine?"

"As I said before sir," Jaune said as he let out a breath. "I let the Deathstalker throw me toward the machine intending to destroy it. Instead, I got thrown in the direct path of the beams and they collided with me."

Jaune's eyes widened as he put two and two together, looking at the headmaster who was nodding in agreement.

"They came from that machine Merlot made!" Jaune said. "When the beam hit me, I saw five separate beams rise up and fly toward the direction of Vale!"

"Exactly my thoughts Mr. Arc. I'll have to send some Atlas technicians to Merlot's base to investigate what exactly that machine was. You are dismissed Mr. Arc, have a good night." Ozpin quickly dismissed the tired student, though with a smile of realization of how this all came to be.

As soon as Jaune left Ozpin slumped in his chair sighing in exhaustion, noticing the bird that was perched on his windowsill.

"That was some freaky shit." A slightly drunk voice said as he leaped from the window.

"You aren't seeing double, Qrow, there was five Jaune Arcs standing in front of us."

"Well it's a good thing I was here," Qrow said as he took a huge swig from his flask. "Cus this would've been a pain in the ass to tell me over a scroll message."

"What do you make of the four?"

Qrow tapped his chin and took another swig from his flask letting out a breath of satisfaction.

"The machine looking one seems to be pretty professional with how he talked, and the dog seemed to be about as carefree as your student." the huntsman glared at the door as he took a pause to recollect his thoughts. "I don't trust the other two. I don't need to explain why when it comes to the one in the mask, but the doppelganger rubbed me the wrong way.

Ozpin nodded in agreement, standing from his desk and looking out the window.

"I as well. The two barely said a single word to me the entire time they were here. I noticed how the Jaune Arc that looked exactly like our own glared at me"

"Yeah, I'll keep an eye on those two if they leave Beacon grounds. Anything else?"

"No, that'll be all Qrow. Stay in the city for now and keep an eye on all four of our new guests."

The drunkard nodded and cracked open the window flying away with the wind. Ozpin stared at his computer screen and rubbed his temples.

"This is going to be an interesting semester.' He thought to himself as he opened powered his computer on, typing in John Arc new student at Beacon, twin brother of Jaune Arc.


	4. Chapter 4

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaiseingfire. Read and Review!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS** : **Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

The four exhausted Jaunes stumbled into their new room with exasperated moans and groans. Each one not hesitating to jump on the closest bed to them, claiming the soft mattress as their own.

"Why are you on my bed?" Reaper growled as Puppy Arc jumped up on his bed and curled up next to his smoke ridden form.

"There is no way I'm sleeping in that doggy bed." the pooch growled back literally. Reaper could only glare before he let his head fall back into the soft pillow. His subconscious couldn't resist but compare the same feeling to the embrace of a certain blue-skinned sniper he only felt once or twice.

"We can't rest yet." Re-Jaune said as he took a breath and pushed himself off his soft Nirvana. "There are still some things we need to talk about."

"Talk later, sleep now." Puppy Arc said with no hesitation.

"C'mon." Reaper said as he grabbed the pooch by the scruff of his neck, earning an irritated growl from the puppy.

"Also, shouldn't this dimension's Jaune Arc be here for what we're going to be talking about?" Cyborg Jaune asked as he sat on his bed. Re-Jaune shook his head and started to pace about the room a bit, scanning for anything he deemed unordinary.

"Jaune is making sure Pyrrha is ok," Re-Jaune said as he scratched his chin, "Though I think her fainting will be a normal occurrence" this earned a chuckle from the lot of them.

"So, what are you doing now?" Puppy Arc asked as Re-Jaune searched the room some more, looking under their beds.

"Seeing if Ozpin bugged the room or has any of the other rooms bugged." Re-Jaune said as if it was a daily routine.

"I don't think Ozpin would do something like that." the cyborg said as he was assessing the specific damages to his body. "Or at least this dimension's Ozpin."

"He would." Reaper and Re-Jaune said simultaneously, earning raised eyebrows from Cyborg Jaune and Puppy Arc.

"I guess I will take your word for now." Cyborg Jaune said as he adjusted his seat. Re-Jaune stood in the center of the room with his hands on his hips and let out a breath.

"So, I haven't found anything out of order in the room. Knowing Ozpin, the scrolls we're getting are going to be bugged." Re-Jaune continued as he scratched his head. Cyborg Jaune frowned upon hearing another jab at Ozpin but decided to keep his mouth shut.

"What do you propose then?" Reaper asked with arms folded, refusing to let the puppy sit on his lap. A breath escaped the time traveler as he looked at the group.

"Let's put everything on the table right now." Re-Jaune said as he took a few steps back and rested his back on the wall. "Whether we are capable fighters or not doesn't mean a thing here. This isn't our dimension and we shouldn't interfere with it more than we already have. So even if some of us aren't happy…" Re-Jaune looked directly at Reaper, who seemed to not look away, but to the time traveler's surprise, be in agreement. "We are all stuck together, and I would rather know what we all can do if our backs are pushed up against the wall."

"Fine by me." Reaper said, more serious and to the point than annoyed. Confusion was prevalent amongst the group and the psychopath grumbled. "I may be stubborn, but I'm not stupid. I know when I'm out of my element."

"You are a lot more than stubborn." Puppy Arc chided, earning a laugh from the cyborg and a glare from Reaper.

"Anyways." Re-Jaune said, earning their attention. "I guess I will go first. You all know my name of course." nods were given from everyone while Re-Jaune grasped his neck and looked up to his new allies.

"I'm from a different dimension where things are a lot bleaker than where we are now… we'll just leave that there for the moment." There was a pause, but no one objected. "I have enhanced aura, along with a few techniques from over the years specializing in aura. I had a weapon, but I lost it when coming here." Re-Jaune ended with a cluck of his tongue, already missing retribution. "Basically, I need to get back to my dimension so I can stop Cinder Fall and the rest of her associates. That's pretty much it for me." Re-Jaune knew there were massive gaps in his biography, but he felt it wasn't important to their situation.

The Reaper and cyborg Jaune nodded in agreement while Puppy Arc looked completely lost.

"Question?"

"Yeah Puppy Arc?" Re-Jaune responded.

"Who's Cinder Fall?"

There was a pause as Re-Jaune's fists tightened. An aura of hatred seeped out of the time traveler which caused the puppy's ears to flatten. He looked up to Reaper for an answer, only to have the same hatred radiate from him.

"Cinder is a heartless coward." Re-Jaune said as he tried to real in his emotions. "She is a sociopathic murderer who only looks out for herself and doesn't care who she hurts or kills to get the power she believes she deserves." Cyborg Jaune and Puppy Arc looked on, practically begging for a specific reason. Re-Jaune looked at the door and followed up with a sigh. "In my timeline, she… killed Pyrrha at the end of the Vytal festival when she attacked Vale and Beacon. And so many more after that." Jaune ended, earning wide eyes from the cyborg and the dog. Hatred began to brim from the two just from the thought of Cinder harming one of their most precious friends.

"Cinder tried to kill Pyrrha in my dimension." Reaper mentioned with a bit of a growl. "I was lucky when I caught that firebitch's arrow." despite his distant behavior, the thought of not making it that night sent a chill down his degrading spine, now knowing what would happen if he was a second late.

"Wait," Cyborg Jaune said as he tried to comprehend what was just said. He turned to the time traveler. "You said you came from a timeline where Pyrrha died, so does that mean you're from the future?" Re-Jaune froze at the cyborg's question.

'Shit. I can't tell them about the Grimm king or that I died and came back to life.' Jaune thought as he felt that it would only make things worse for the group, given that they had all just met a few hours ago. 'Gotta improvise here.'

"Yes, I am exactly ten years into the future where the war against the Grimm is in full swing." he said, not telling a complete lie.

"Ok, thank you for clearing that up Arc." Cyborg Jaune said as he stood up, his joints softly creaking and groaning, "Since we're all talking about ourselves, I'll go next. As you can see I am a cyborg." all he earned were blank stares from his counterparts.

"How?" Reaper asked with curiosity as he leaned forward a bit.

"Want to tell us how you got that smoke?" the cyborg replied, there was a silence between them all until Reaper leaned back.

"Fair enough."

The other two Jaunes nodded in understanding and motioned him to go on. Reaper gave Cyborg Jaune a curious gaze though.

"Since I am a cyborg, I can hit harder than any normal huntsman and huntress, have enhanced mobility that allows me to be unpredictable in combat and can run just as fast as any ground vehicle when I am at 100 percent efficiency." he looked to the time traveler with empathy as he gestured to his beat-up body.

"When I was teleported here my systems were damaged extensively and I will need to make repairs, currently, I am only at twenty-five percent efficiency because of the damage I sustained when brawling with Reaper." Reaper took a mental note, if he ever wanted to give the fight another go.

"Ok, we'll try to find someone who can repair you. In the meantime, try to fix anything you can so you're battle-ready." Re-Jaune said.

"I do have one more thing that gives me an edge in combat." Cyborg Jaune said as he pulled a chip out of the back of his helmet and out sprang his AI Mercy. Re-Jaune and Reaper's eyebrows rose while Puppy Arc jumped back a bit.

"Hello, other Jaune Arcs. I am agent Sparrow's personal AI unit, Mercy." the AI said as the other Jaune's grouped around her.

"I have an extensive database that gives me access to all criminal records and student records from each huntsman academy in Remnant. At least from Agent Sparrow's dimension. Should you need information I will provide it to you as soon as possible. I also can analyze opponents and expose their weaknesses. Another thing that I can do is read the neural wavelengths of anyone I scan and learn everything about them." The hologram smiled. She wore a white lab coat and had blonde hair styled up in a ponytail looking at them all with a bright smile, to which the rest of the Jaune's were taken aback by.

"Uh...good to meet you Mercy." Re-Jaune shifted nervously as he didn't want the AI to reveal anything about him that was too embarrassing. Puppy Arc and Reaper thought the same thing, praying to Oum that the AI didn't scan them as well. The AI smiled before its chip was picked up and placed back into the cyborg's head.

"That's pretty much everything." the cyborg said. "My intended goals entail getting back to where I'm from and reporting what I experienced to Ozpin." The cyborg didn't care for the glances and shifts two of his fellow arcs made at the mention of the headmaster. Only until the hooded Arc headed back to his bed.

"I guess I'm next." Reaper said as he massaged his shoulder. "I am completely unkillable by conventional means." this earned wide eyes and raised eyebrows from everyone.

"It doesn't matter if you shoot my head off or cut me in half, I will regenerate." Reaper leaned forward and intertwined his sharp fingers with each other. "I can turn to smoke to evade enemies and also can utilize it as a weapon to choke people to death or knock them out if need be. The cyborg already asked if I'm willing to share, and I'm sure you all know my answer." Reaper finished with a breath.

"Talk about overpowered." Re-Jaune mentioned as he pocketed that information. If he couldn't be killed by conventional weapons, did that also mean aura?

"Sounds pretty badass to me." The pup said, now sitting in Cyborg Jaune's lap.

"It's powerful...but it comes at a price." Reaper Jaune said nothing else as the smoke shuddered around his form.

"Is that going to happen all the time?" Puppy Arc asked.

"It comes and goes." Reaper grunted in what sounded like pain.

"So, what about you." Cyborg Jaune asked as he looked down at the yellow puffball in his lap. To which the dog stared up at him blankly.

"I'm a dog." Puppy Arc replied.

"And?" Re-Jaune added.

"And I don't know." Puppy Arc said as he hopped off the cyborg's lap. He walked towards the door so they could all see him and he sat down. "I usually just turn into a dog for twelve hours once a week." a sigh escaped the dog as he looked back to them. "Last I remember, I was watching Nora fight in training class when one of her grenades was accidentally sent my way for the second time in two weeks!" The yellow furball yelped in anger from the memory and continued, "I turned into this before it could hit, but in the smoke, light surrounded me and I was transported here. I don't usually stay as a dog this long and I was never able to talk. That's all I know right now. Honest." Re- Jaune and the rest of them nodded at this. The time traveler picked up the dog and scratched him behind the ears.

"We'll find a way for you to get your body back. in the meantime, I guess you're going to have to stick with us." Re-Jaune said. "And I mean, you're not alone when it comes to not knowing anything. We were all warped away just like you were.

"Don't leave out the detail about you being buck-ass naked, beating up a bunch of bikers and stealing a motorcycle." Reaper chuckled and Re-Jaune froze in embarrassment, one eye twitching in frustration.

"Goddamn, you Ozpin..." Re-Jaune muttered a curse at the old wizard while the dog hopped out of his hold.

"I am going to address the elephant in the room," the cyborg said with an edge that cut all laughing short. He then gestured towards Reaper and Re-Jaune.

"Why don't the two of you trust Ozpin? He's fighting against the Grimm and trying to save Remnant." Cyborg Jaune asked and Reaper and Re-Jaune looked at one another. Re-Jaune sighed and nodded.

"We both have a mutual understanding about our hatred of Ozpin. He may seem like the trustworthy wise elder or kind and caring grandfather." Re-Jaune said as he folded his arms "But in his eyes, we're all just chess pieces he can use and toss away at his disposal." his foot tapped while he bit his lip. "He's the reason why Ruby's mom is dead and the reason why...why my entire team is dead as well."

The ninja was taken aback from what Re-Jaune said and looked to Reaper for confirmation. The psychopath nodded slowly, his eyes dimmer than usual.

"Arc took the words right out of my mouth. He's a scheming asshole who will sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve whatever goal he wants. Take our advice, don't buy any of the shit he's selling."

"I...I have a lot to talk about when I get back to my world." Cyborg Jaune said to mostly himself. "But for now, we must focus on the present. What is our next move?"

No one talked as they all looked at each other. Each of their eyes peering into each other's soul, looking for the same answer they all had.

"Sleep?" Puppy Arc asked.

"Sleep." they all said at once. Without another word, they jumped into their respective beds. Not caring if they were still in their gear.

"Wait." Cyborg Jaune said as he rose his head from his pillow, looking at the rest of his fellow Jaunes. "Shouldn't we have a team name? Given there are four of us?" each Jaune looked at each other, trying to find the right answer.

"Jasper?" Puppy arc perked up.

"Jasper?" Re-Jaune asked with confusion.

"Yeah, Jaune Arc," he pointed a paw to the time traveler, "Sparrow, right?" Puppy Arc got a nod from the cyborg, "Puppy Arc," he gestured a paw to himself, "And Reaper. JSPR" the dog finished. The Jaune's looked at each other before Re-Jaune smiled at the dog.

"JSPR it is." the four of them were content with that answer and were about to drift into slumber before they were all disturbed by a rumbling chuckle from Reaper.

"What's so funny?" Cyborg Jaune asked, to which Reaper couldn't help but laugh a little bit more.

"It's just that," he tried to stifle his chuckle. "Jasper is the name of the first Beacon student I killed." and with that, the other three Arcs barely got any sleep that night.

#

As morning came, the sun couldn't help but disturb the little peace the four Arcs had by illuminating its way into their dorm room. Giving them loving warmth, no one wanted.

"It can't be morning already." Re-Jaune said as he had rings under his eyes.

"Believe it." Cyborg Jaune said as he didn't sleep too well.

"Oh gods," Reaper grumbled as he turned over in his bed, "You guys weren't a dream."

"Good morning to you too." Puppy Arc growled at the Reaper, not happy with how little sleep he had. Especially since he slept on the hooded Jaune's bed.

"What crawled up your ass?" Reaper asked as he shuddered a bit. The smoke returning and swirling at intense speeds. Before anyone could ask what was happening, the smoke died down and Reaper got up from his bed.

Re-Jaune was about to answer when a knock sounded from their door. He looked at them all before he walked and looked through the peephole to see the Jaune Arc of this dimension. Re-Jaune didn't hesitate in opening the door and pulling his fellow blonde in.

"Jeez! Didn't need to pull me in so fast. Almost gave me whiplash!" Jaune said as he massaged the back of his neck.

"Sorry." Re-Jaune said as he looked away in embarrassment. "How's Pyrrha?"

"She's still trying to wrap her head around the concept. I think all of us are still trying to process it." Jaune replied, earning nods from all of them.

Re-Jaune was about to go on, but a scroll and a sheet of paper were shoved into his face.

"Apparently, you're now officially my twin brother, John Arc." Jaune said without a second to spare, taking everyone aback, especially Re-Jaune. "Ozpin enrolled you for classes and to be able to spar in combat class. He's basically given you the chance to walk around Beacon without raising suspicion."

Re-Jaune's eyes were wide with surprise as he wrapped his brain around this.

'Oh, that crafty son of a bitch! Ozpin did this so that he could keep an eye on me! Dammit.' Re-jaune cursed in his head as he read the paper, kicking himself for being so distant.

"So, I'm guessing you'll need a weapon and a new set of clothes." Re Jaune Begrudgingly nodded at the hard truth of his situation, to which Jaune chuckled. "There's a small store in Beacon you can go to. He wired lien to these three scrolls for you guys to use since you're all broke."

"Wait why don't I get one?" Puppy Arc complained in protest and the four Jaune's looked down at him with blank faces. Reaper pointed at his paws and Puppy Arc looked down finally getting it.

"Oh yea...I'm still a dog...Dammit!"

"Swear." Reaper said mockingly as the puffball growled and jumped up on Cyborg Jaune's bed, in order to jump on his shoulder, glaring at the psychopath.

"Why do you always like sitting on me?"

"Your metal body is nice and cool. I'm dying of heatstroke because of all this fur!"

"And another thing." Jaune said as he gave Cyborg Jaune a document as well.

"You are officially now a support teacher. You'll mainly be helping in combat class with Ms. Goodwitch. Your alibi is that you are a former Atlesian specialist that left the Atlas military in search of a teaching job. Ozpin said to use whatever codename you used in your world."

'That sneaky bastard.' Cyborg Jaune cursed Ozpin and sighed, now retaining the knowledge his fellow Jaunes gave him. 'I shouldn't expect anything less from that man. He always wants to be able to see everything and know everything.' He thought to himself and nodded to Jaune.

"I know this was not your doing. You're simply delivering a message." He nodded in thanks and Jaune smiled back at him.

"You're welcome uh...Sparrow? Was that what you said to call you?" Jaune asked and his cyborg counterpart nodded.

"Did he have anything for me?" Reaper asked with suspicion evident in his voice and Jaune shook his head.

"Nope. He did tell me to ask the four of you to stay on the campus though." that remark from Jaune was a red flag for all of them, despite their opinions of Ozpin in general.

"Huh." Reaper said as he turned off the scroll and flipped it over, revealing a panel within the device. All of them looked on in confusion as Reaper messed with the machine, examining it from all angles.

"Found it." Reaper said as he removed a device from the scroll that blinked with a red light. Before anyone could ask what it was, he crushed it in his hand.

"Tracking device?" Re-Jaune asked without surprise in his voice.

"You know it. Had a friend help me learn the ins and outs where I'm from." Reaper said, thanking those tiring hours under Sombra's tutelage. "I'll be heading out into Vale to get some leads, I'll call if anything happens." Reaper said as he dissipated into smoke and headed out of the room without any word from his counterparts.

"Is...he always so edgy?"

"Yea it's kinda his shtick." Re-Jaune shook his head with a small smile on his face and look looked at Jaune.

"Alright brother! Why don't you show your older twin where to find this shop?"

"O-older?"

"Yeah, I'm for-" Re-Jaune caught his tongue and looked back at his counterparts. "Twenty-seven. So, we're twin brothers, but I was born two minutes earlier." Re-Jaune smiled and Jaune gave out a heavy sigh of frustration.

"Fine...Cmon I'll show where it is."

"Hey what about me?" Puppy Arc yapped in protest and Jaune looked back at him.

"I don't know...stay put and don't draw attention." Jaune said plainly as the puppy let his ears droop down and looked up at his human counterpart with puppy eyes. Jaune shifted and looked away from the yellow dog, refusing to meet his gaze.

'Not gonna give in. Not gonna give in. Not gonna-' Jaune thought to himself and looked down only to see Puppy Arc sitting on his hind legs with the sad puppy eyes out in full force.

"Gah fine!" Jaune yelled and picked up his canine counterpart.

"Here's the ground rules, no talking unless it's only teams RWBY and JNPR around got it?"

The pooch nodded in agreement, his stubby tail swaying back in forth with excitement.

"The second rule, you stay with RWBY and JNPR at all times. Leave our sight and you're in the doghouse!"

He nodded once more and let out a bark of joy.

"And no more bullhead incidents." Re-Jaune said as he, the cyborg, and the dog shuddered at that memory. Jaune didn't even want to ask.

"Ok, John, come with me and Sparrow, head to the combat arena, Ms. Goodwitch is expecting you."

The ninja nodded and sprinted out the door at inhuman speeds, leaving the three of them covered in a cloud of dust. Jaune coughed and blinked, staring at John.

"I thought he was damaged?"

"Well, he said he was running at 25 percent efficiency and he said to be faster than the average huntsman."

"You know, the three of you make me feel pretty inadequate." Jaune mentioned as his shoulder's slumped. "And one of you is a dog."

"Sorry bro." John grinned. "Now, why don't we head to that store? Does it have armor as well?" His fellow blonde nodded as he carried Puppy Arc, leading them toward the campus store. A few minutes later, the three Arcs entered the small shop. John immediately went to the weapons section and sighed with disappointment.

'This?! This is what I have to work with?!' He screamed in his head, gazing at the terrible quality and pitiful amount of weapons there were. John looked over every single one, trying to find at least a decent weapon, something to suffice before he made one. His eyes set on a simple four-foot straight sword with a double-edged blade. The blonde felt the hilt and gave the blade a few swings before nodding and purchasing both it and a scabbard.

"Going with a classic huh?" Jaune noted and his counterpart shrugged.

"Decided to go with something familiar. Besides, this is probably the best I'm going to get." Jaune nodded and watched as his "brother" went to the clothes and armor section. A few minutes later, John strolled out of the changing room. A Black short sleeved shirt and a white chest plate with ammo pouches and black fingerless gloves. Black cargo pants and boots with steel caps. His straight sword on his back and the Black pistol he took from the biker on his back hip with the Arc symbol stitched into the left shoulder of his shirt.

"Nice man. How'd you get the Arc symbol?" Puppy Arc asked as he stood next to Jaune.

"Found a piece of yellow cloth and cut it into our symbol." John said as he tightened his gloves. "You learn a lot after ten years of being a full-fledged huntsman in the field, like learning to stitch and sew up wounds."

"You don't have to wear a uniform today since we don't have one for you. Tomorrow I'll give you a few of mine, I hope they fit." Jaune added as he looked at his counterparts more muscular build with envy and a twinge of discouragement.

John picked up on his counterpart's deflated demeanor. "You know, I can help train you. Is Pyrrha still helping?"

"Y-yeah...I'm doing better though! Could you help us out?"

"Of course. Later tonight I'll give you two some pointers. Speaking of which how is Pyrrha? You said you explained to her that there were three Jaunes yesterday, right?"

"It was an...interesting conversation to say the least. She was almost hyperventilating and it took me a while to calm her down. She promised me that she wouldn't faint seeing both you and I together since we're supposed to be brothers."

"Yeah that'd be a problem!" John chuckled and Jaune did as well. The two finally made it to the Grimm studies classroom and Jaune looked at his counterpart.

"Ready?"

"For Professor Port? Never. If he tells the same stories that he told in my world, I'll fall asleep for sure."

"Ditto." Puppy Arc said. The two human Jaunes looked at the dog before looking at each other with blank expressions. "What?" he asked.

"Ugh." John said as he looked toward the room. "Look, I know it's going to be stuffy, but you need to get in the bag." John said as he took Jaunes bag from his grasp.

"No way!" Puppy Arc yelped.

"Why my bag?!" Jaune exclaimed.

"I don't have one on me." John said as he snatched the puppy by the scruff of the neck. "Just get in and fall asleep. I know you're still tired."

"Wait," Jaune asked with a bit of confusion. "You guys didn't sleep well?"

"It tends to happen when you're rooming with a murderer." Puppy Arc grumbled as he reluctantly got in the bag.

Jaune decided not to ask as he shook his head and the two students entered without another word. The entire class looked at the new arrivals and a few surprise stares and gasps sounded throughout the room.

"Ah Mr. Arc! And I see you brought your twin brother with you! Class, I'd like you all to meet Jaune Arcs twin brother, John Arc!"

The classroom was dead silent and the two Arcs walked to their seats. John saw the familiar crimson hair and swallowed hard, trying not to shake. Unbeknownst to him, Pyrrha was trying to do the same as well. She struggled to keeps her composure as her Jaune sat to her right and the other sat to her left.

'Oum above...why did you do this to me?' Pyrrha asked to whoever was listening but received no response.

 **(Cyborg Jaune)**

"Crap crap crap crap! Goodwitch is going to be pissed if I'm not there on time!" Sparrow talked to himself as he finally made it to the arena, screeching to a halt right in front of Ms. Goodwitch, standing in a militaristic pose.

"Professor Goodwitch, agent Sparrow reporting for-" He was interrupted as Goodwitch smacked him on the helmet with her riding crop.

"You don't have to act like that when it's just the two of us Mr. Arc." She chastised him and the cyborg nodded, standing a little more loosely.

"Sorry professor. How has your day been?" Gylnda stared at him with an icy gaze and Sparrow could only gulp in fear.

"Other than a massive migraine I currently have because of a certain group of some… new arrivals, my day has been full of paperwork because of you and your merry group of imbeciles!"

"Apologies professor."

"Not only that, there were police reports of two masked men fighting on a rooftop as ninja stars and shotgun rounds flew all over the place! That didn't happen to be you wasn't it?" she glared with irritated intent.

The ninja felt sweat bead his forehead and was glad that he had his helmet on.

"That was me yes..."

The combat instructor continued to glare at him and finally sighed.

"Goodness...what am I going to do with all of you?" she was definitely stressed enough as is, but the addition of him and his new team could only make things worse. Sparrow was about to apologize, but not before he noticed her troubled gaze.

"I could only imagine how lost you all were, taken from your worlds and shoved into another. I couldn't imagine how that must feel." she said with a pinched nose. "Given what you said be true that is." Sparrow could only nod with assurance.

"I am sorry that this happened to you Jaune… Sparrow, but rest assured, Ozpin and I will do everything in our power to get you back to your world. I promise." The headmistress gave him a rare smile despite his surprise. The cyborg could only stare at his teacher with respect as he nodded in thanks, though letting the words of his colleagues ring in his head when it came to Ozpin.

"Now, onto business. As my assistant in combat class, you will help me critique the students on both what they did well and what they did wrong." Goodwitch said as she paced about, looking at her scroll. "Also, if I feel that a student is too confident for their own good, I'll have you duel with them to remind them that they have much to learn. Am I clear?"

Sparrow nodded and Goodwitch smiled.

"Good. Be ready, the class is about to begin."

 **(Reaper)**

There was a silence that echoed through the hollow lobby of the bullhead. There were no words to be shared as the pilot nervously guided the ship down to the docks of Vale. Upon arrival, he let out a breath as the doors opened, and the hooded figure stepped out of his ship.

Reaper took a breath as he relished the fresh air while his feet were planted on solid ground and not the metal death trap he resided in a few moments ago. He ignored the stares he began to receive and without a moment's notice, took off in the direction he planned to head to while he had time to think in the bullhead.

He decided to stroll through Vale for a bit, being able to bask in the pleasant sun that came with the brisk morning, despite his cells screaming in agony. He would never admit it, but it felt nice being in a Vale that wasn't plagued with paranoia or fear due to his presence. The worried stares and whispers as he walked past a few citizens, however, were very prevalent.

"Welp, it was good while it lasted." Reaper thought as he turned into a nearby alley and dematerialized into smoke. The smoke intertwined and weaved its way up a nearby building before Reaper became whole. He looked over the rooftop and saw where he needed to go, after all, where's a better place to get information than an info broker?

* * *

 **Noble: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Read and Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaiseingfire. Read and Review! Also if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS** : **Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

 **(Reaper)**

If there was one thing Reaper loved more than the anticipation of a kill, it was the feeling of being non-existent and far away when whoever discovers said kill. The knowledge of being in a place where no one else could see or even realize his presence sent a wave of euphoria through his body. It gave him control and relentless power when he felt like striking.

That same feeling crept up and down his aching back as he watched Junior's men from the rafters of his club. It was still morning when Reaper arrived, so the club was closed and bustling with men getting ready for that night. Reaper could see shipments of new furniture as well as liquor crates be passed from henchman to henchman. Despite being one of Vale's most popular joints, Reaper couldn't help but revel in the disorganization. It made it way too easy for him.

Without resisting the urge to chuckle at his situation, Reaper leaped from rafter to rafter, leaving a trail of smoke behind his coat. His bones rattled and he clenched his teeth when he felt his skin flare with each leap. It was a good reminder though not to be too confident in his endeavors. The slightest mishap or grunt could give him away, and despite his track record, the thought of starting his second day in a new universe with a bloodbath would not bode well with the others.

Reaper paused as he scanned the club from various angles, ignoring the two tacky twins ordering the other goons around and noticed that one of the doors behind the bar was cracked open.

"Better lead than anything I guess." Reaper said to himself as he scaled the wall closest to the door. His breath hitched a few times as the henchmen kept mostly to themselves, but there would always be one who turned his way almost at the right moment.

'You know you can wipe this whole place clean, right?' he thought to himself. There was a pause as he ducked behind the bar and looked over to see if he was clear to move. He shook his head from the urge to splatter the nearest goon's guts everywhere and dissipated through the door.

There was a narrow hallway that led up from the bar and as Jaune walked up the rickety stairs decorated with torn wallpaper along the hallway, only to stop in front of a door with a huge J on the front. Despite being an egotistical psychopath at times, Reaper couldn't help but roll his crimson eyes at the sight.

Without a moment to lose, Reaper dissipated once more, only to growl at how the door was sealed with sound proof padding. "Guess I have to be up front." Reaper said as he banged on the door, ignoring the rapid flaring in his right arm. Reaper sighed as there was no response and began to jiggle the handle.

"WHAT?!" an angered Junior swung the massive door open with barely a moment for Reaper to dissipate behind the door and sneak his way around the top of the frame. Junior was met with the nothingness of his hallway and despite his confusion, he shut the door and turned back to his desk. Only for a clawed hand to reach out and latch onto his neck.

"HGGHH!" Junior gurgled as he was face to face with a masked man clad in nothing but black. There was no opportunity to make another noise as the man slammed his fist into the info broker's face multiple times before he threw him across the room and over his desk. In his daze, Junior's body begged for him to get back up, but his train of thought was ceased as the masked man grabbed the bartender's mahogany chair and placed upon his upper torso, pinning Junior's neck against the floor and the wooden support of the chair.

"Hi." Reaper said as he sat on the chair, causing the disoriented bartender to gurgle a bit more. The burly man thrashed a bit, using his arms and legs to rock the chair a bit, but his efforts were dashed aside as Reaper stomped on his shoulder, warranting a scream from Junior. Aura or not, it had to hurt like a bitch.

"We're going to play a game Junior." Reaper said, earning the attention of his victim. There were hitched breaths from Junior's red face and his legs would kick out every few seconds. "We're going to play a game. I'm going to ask you a few questions, and every time you say the word "What," I snap a finger." Reaper finished, earning wide eyes from Junior.

"Who are you?!" Junior struggled to say due to the thickness of his neck against the wooden bar of the chair. "What do you wa—AAAGHHH!" Junior screamed as the masked man continued to look down at him while his boot slammed on the bartender's right pinky.

"I'm so glad you're getting the hang of the rules," Reaper started as he leaned a bit forward. "But we are on a strict time budget. That and I assume you need your fingers to make and mix drinks." a strangled growl escaped Junior's mouth and Reaper glared through his mask.

"What do you know about the beams of light that arrived in Vale yesterday? I know the media is just starting to get wind of it, but we both know you're the first to get any information like that." Reaper spoke with a silky monotone voice as he folded his arms over the back of the chair.

"I don't know much." Junior said as he knew when his back was against the wall, or in his specific case, the floor. "All I know is that the little imp who hangs around Roman asked for some more men." Reaper clucked his tongue at the thought of Neo. He remembered scaring the little shit in his dimension, but nothing more came to mind.

"Why?"

"Man, I don't… know what any of Roman's lackeys are up to anymo—AAAAHHH!" Junior let out another scream as his right ring finger joined his broken pinky. Reaper chuckled a bit as the burly man rapidly threw his head against the floorboards while seething through his teeth.

"Hope you weren't planning on marriage anytime soon." Reaper mentioned as he peeled his boot off the two fingers, mockingly wincing at Junior's predicament. "Anyways, where did you send the men?" there was a still silence between the two men as Reaper sighed. Without a word he brandished a machete from his smoky coat and danced the tip of the blade over Junior's crotch.

"Do I really gotta do this?" Reaper asked. Junior stared at him with a blank gaze.

"Warehouse… district. 5B. It's in the back corner." was all he said as Reaper nodded and pulled the blade back into his coat. The hooded man stood up and lifted the chair from Junior's throat. The bartender gasped as he clutched his right hand with soothing care.

"Was that so hard?" Reaper mocked as he made his way to the door.

"Mother Fucker!" Junior screamed at Reaper. "You know who you're messing with?! I'll have you dead with your balls in your mouth by the end of the day!" all his threat warranted was a chuckle from Reaper. There was silence as Reaper was about to leave. "YOU PSYCHOPATH! YOU'RE JUST LIKE BLONDIE!" Reaper's hand hovered over the handle as he stood there frozen at Junior's words. He tilted his head to the side and clucked his tongue once more.

"Why did you have to say that Junior?" Reaper said softly as he tilted his head up. Junior's confusion began to rise as the smoke around the masked man began to swirl with anger. Reaper slowly turned his head to the info broker and pulled out his machete. "Now I'm going to make you regret installing a soundproof room." A bead of sweat dropped from Junior's head as Reaper grew closer with fury in his crimson eyes and a tight grip on his blade.

 **(Re-Jaune)**

"Soooo...John..." Ruby drawled as Re-Jaune stabbed at his semi-cooked cafeteria steak with a disgusted look. He sighed before he scooped up a mouthful of potatoes and looked at her, trying his best to keep his cool around his now living friends as they all ate lunch.

"Yeah Ruby?" He asked with a full mouth before swallowing and smiling at her.

"Uhh...are you exactly like our Jaune? Like, same things that he's doing right now happened to you?" Ruby's tone was hushed as every once and a while, the two teams would feel a few gazes coming their way. Mostly at the two identical blonde knights.

"More or less. I came to Beacon, had a tough time at first, saved Cardin from an Ursa, and even wore a dress to the dance. Just like my little bro!" He ruffled Jaune's head and his fellow blonde sighed in embarrassment, though laughs were had all around.

"Gotta say John," Yang jokingly purred. "And I mean no offense to our Jaune when I say this, but damn! You're like a perfect version of him!" the brawler wiggled her eyebrows at the time traveler's figure. "Them muscles are just dying to be massaged with a woman's touch." Yang winked saucily, making Ruby and Jaune groan in unison. Re-Jaune blushed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Thanks, Yang your uh...hair looks as good as always." John swallowed trying to compliment his friend. Though having a myriad of emotions ranging from embarrassment to bashful.

"Oh man, you really are just like Jaune!" Yang laughed heartily as she did her best not to fall off the bench. Re-Jaune grumbled in embarrassment mimicking his alternate self perfectly, making Yang lose her composure and laugh even harder.

"So, what is Remnant like in your… universe, John?" Weiss spoke quietly enough for the whole table to hear her question. Even though the absurdity of their situation was still new to them.

Remorse flashed over Re-Jaune's eyes as he remembered everything he had been through. Those good memories of the dance and times with his friends mutated into images of Cinder and all of his friends perishing before him.

"Well in my time, it's ten years from now." Re-Jaune said with a forced smile. "I'm a fully-fledged huntsman and made a bit of a name for myself."

"How so?" Weiss narrowed her eyes and Re-Jaune could see the doubt grow within her. His counterpart along with Pyrrha were a little more excited to hear his answer.

'One of the last humans alive.' he thought to himself as he remembered what happened that day. His smile contradicted his thoughts as he looked to Jaune.

"Well I lead a few major sieges against the Grimm and saved a couple of the kingdoms and their academies with my team." he bit through the partial lie and mentally sighed in relief when his friends fell for his story. He couldn't help but smile at the excitement and pride that rose within Pyrrha.

"I have a question however." Blake spoke and both Jaunes perked up, staring back at her.

"I read this article about a certain biker gang…" both Jaunes froze as confusion sprouted amongst the students.

"Uhhhh..." both Jaunes replied.

"You can stop trying to play dumb," Blake said as she turned a page in her book "I know it was you because the other versions of you look completely different." Re-Jaune's face flushed brightly red as Blake called him out. "Plus, our Jaune was here when this was reported."'

"Well...I...it's hard to..." Re-Jaune was cursing himself as he couldn't explain why he was tripping over his own words. Had it really been that long since he talked to any of them?

"Just spit it out already! I wanna hear the juicy details!" Nora grinned maniacally while a pancake hung from her mouth.

"I'd like to know as well." Pyrrha spoke up with hesitation evident in her voice. Re-Jaune sighed in defeat and looked at the group.

"Alright fine." Re-Jaune leaned forward as he placed his palm on his forehead. "I was teleported from our homes and as I said before to Ozpin, the other versions were affected differently by the sudden travel. I, unfortunately...was transported without any clothes." Silence hung in the air until Nora finally broke.

"PFFFTTT HAHAA! Our fearless leader was in his birthday suit beating up bikers!"

"Nora stop laughing!" Re-Jaune groaned as the Valkyrie continued to laugh. Her laughter became infectious as Yang and Ruby Joined in. The time travelers heart broke a bit as he saw Pyrrha trying to stifle her giggles.

"I'd pay money to see your ass naked! Oum above that'd be great!" Yang laughed boisterously and Pyrrha was beet red thinking the exact same thing.

"OK that's enough! Why don't you ask Puppy Arc about his life huh?!" Re-Jaune spoke in frustration before looking under the table for his fellow Arc but finding nothing.

"Uhh, Jaune? Where'd Puppy Arc go?"

"Huh? He should be in the bag, I fed him some food and-" Jaune opened the bag to find nothing. Both he and his 'brother' looked at one another.

"Ah Shit!" The two yelled in unison as they scrambled away from the table looking to find their furry companion.

 **(Puppy Arc)**

'At last I'm free!' Puppy Arc thought to himself in victory, holding his small head up high in triumph. Not caring who saw him given the majority of the student body was at the mess hall

'Now what should I do...I know! I'll sneak into Ruby's room and read her comics! She always had a stash beneath Weiss' bed!' He started to sprint toward team RWBY's dorm, intent on getting his fill of comics. The pooch made it to RWBY's dorm in little time and narrowed his eyes at the door.

"For too long you've mocked me...tell me that I can't open you because I don't have opposable thumbs! No more! I will defeat you, door and I will roar in triumph when I do!" Puppy Arc declared before trotting down the hall and pulling a nearby chair to RWBY's dorm. He jumped onto the chair and leaped to the doorknob, latching onto it with his teeth and swinging back and forth using his momentum to open the cursed barrier.

With one final growl, the door opened and he barked in triumph, letting the door swing closed behind him. He looked around and nodded with a smirk.

"Yep. Bunk beds are just as unstable and dangerous as always."

The yellow puffball puttered over to Weiss' bed, gently biting the box of comics from underneath and pulling them onto the floor. Puppy Arc grinned in victory, grabbing one of the comics and setting it on the floor.

'X-Ray and Vav, always a classic.' Puppy Arc thought as he was about to flip to the first page before hearing a familiar growl. His small eyes narrowed before turning around to see another dog with black and white fur, clearly not happy that another dog had entered his territory. Puppy Arc crouched a bit in a defensive manner as his eyes stared at the name tag around the dog's neck.

"Zwei." Puppy Arc growled as the corgi sauntered over, showing his teeth.

"You may have the loyalty and trust of team RWBY, along with being on your home turf, but I will be victorious today!" Puppy Arc barked and glared at Zwei. The Corgi gave Jaune one low growl before jumping up to a desk and unsheathing one of Weiss' pens, jumping back down in a battle-ready stance. The golden pooch jumped up to Blake's bed, sticking his head underneath her pillow and brandishing the forbidden book, Ninja's of Love uncut. Zwei's eyes widened in shock, knowing all too well what Blake did when her teammates were asleep, to use such a taboo as a weapon!

The two furballs circled one another, both growling at each other before they finally stopped. Both of them gazed at one another with anger, a single dust bunny blew across the soon to be battlefield. Their hind legs tensed before lunging at one another, the final battle to see who would reign as the cutest dog in Beacon!

 **(Reaper)**

There was a stillness to it his form as Reaper was once again perched in the rafters, but this time being in the warehouse according to Junior's intel. For a split moment, the masked blonde wondered if Junior would be able to mix drinks again after what he did to him…or walk… or speak.

"Back to business." Reaper said to himself as he scanned the warehouse for anything regarding them or the light that they traveled through. His attempts bore some fruit as he looked on with confusion at the countless machines that plagued the central area of the warehouse. He didn't know what they were for, but he noticed several scientists who occupied the place paced up and down the base floor, checking and maintaining the equipment feverishly.

Reaper's eyes narrowed with anger as he noticed from their scared demeanors that they weren't here at their own accord. The group of Junior's armed henchmen on the ground floor, as well as some White Fang grunts aiming their weapons at the lab coats from the catwalk was a dead giveaway to what was happening. The only question left to ask was why they were holding these people hostage in the first place.

"Huh?" a chill went up Reaper's deteriorating spine as he noticed the sudden voice of the White Fang grunt right beneath him. He looked down to see that the White Fang grunt was sniffing the air and was crouched around a few droplets of blood. The hooded man cursed himself as he realized the blood from his time with Junior was still fresh and was dripping onto the catwalk.

"Shit." Reaper cursed as the grunt looked up before a mass of black smoke pounced upon the poor guard. There was no chance to scream as Reaper brandished his machete and slammed the hilt into the Faunus' temple. Despite preventing gunshots or any cries from his victim, it didn't help him as the enhanced hearing of the bat Faunus across the way picked up on the slight audio disturbances in the warehouse.

Reaper stood up from his crouching position and took a breath, knowing stealth was about to be blasted out the window. Stealth being personified as the bat Faunus due to Reaper leaping off the rail, shifting his blade into his shotgun, and firing a round into the White Fang member's chest. The boom of his gun came first, then the scream from his victim.

"What the fuck was that?!" one of Junior's men called out as the others readied their weapons due to their situation. There was no time to give out any orders as the grunt who called out to the other's felt a sharp pain in his left hand, only to look to the source to see a bleeding stump in its steed.

"AAAGH!" the grunt screamed as he felt a blade go through his chest, only for it to pulled out quickly. Reaper showed no hesitation as a few of the frightened doctors sprinted past him in order to get away from any and all harm. Reaper ignored them as he grinned due to the sudden jolt of fear, he could feel from the five henchmen in front of him.

Without any war cry to initiate their charge, Reaper bolted towards them, having half his form dissipate into smoke. With his free hand, he reached out an grabbed the closest goon by the face and slammed him into the ground. The masked man took advantage of his victim's dazed state and fired off one round at his head. Aura or not, no one would survive a shot that close.

Reaper could feel the fear in the remainder of them skyrocket, but their fear ceased as he lunged from his position to his next victim. It was a gunshot to one of their guts, a stab to another's neck, a slice at the third one's knee then a stab to the head, and finally a gunshot to the last goon's kneecap.

There was no moment for the last survivor to scream as he was eternally silenced with a shotgun round to the head. Reaper stood there in the silence as he was surrounded by the fresh corpses and let out a breath. He looked around to see that minimal damage was sustained to the equipment, though the lab coats took no time in evacuating the facility.

"Eep!" Reaper's head perked up as he heard a rustling from a nearby locker. He turned his head to the source and stepped over and on a few of the bodies that sprawled across the floor. He stared at the blue locker and with a hitch in his breath, he ripped the locker off its hinges.

"AIIEE!" Reaper didn't recoil at the scream that came from the faunus scientist who tumbled out without any semblance of grace. Her brunette hair and bunny ears made his eyes go wide for a few moments before he picked her up and put her back on her feet. She was definitely older, but the resemblance to Velvet Scarlatina was uncanny.

"What is your name?" Reaper asked slowly, making sure she was breathing well.

"Auburn." she said in between breaths. "Auburn Scarlatina." something clicked in Reaper's head as he assumed she was either Velvet's older sister or mother, it didn't matter at the moment as he saw her gasp and take a few steps back. Reaper could see her gaze locked on the corpses behind him and he decided to step in front of the scene, catching her attention.

"Why are you here?" he asked calmly.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed as her breathing began to escalate. "I was at home yesterday, about to go to work, and then… they took me." she pointed behind the masked man and Reaper proceeded to fold his arms.

"What is this place?"

"I don't know!" she screamed louder as she was clearly distraught. "All I know is that they wanted me to monitor the containment equipment. I wasn't to ask what was there or why we were doing what we were doing!" a few gasps escaped her and Reaper nodded his head.

"Is the containment equipment that way?" Reaper asked as confusion sprouted within him once again, wondering what were they containing to begin with. He pointed to the doorway that divided the other half of the warehouse.

Auburn only nodded as she took in a few breaths. She froze though as she could feel his glare on her. "Is there anyone else over there?" he growled, to which the bunny Faunus yelped with fear. She shook her head rapidly and Reaper nodded. "Then leave."

Without another word, the scientist bolted past him and ran to the exit. Reaper let out a sigh and made his way to the place Auburn pointed him too. He jimmied the door a bit as he let out a few grunts. Despite the sloppy nature of the facility, security was still on point.

The hooded man grinned as he saw a opening beneath the door and took no effort in seeping beneath the door. He materialized without any issues, only to stop dead in his tracks.

The room was cluttered with papers and stacked with books almost to his height. There was hardly any way to navigate due to the wires and plugs that led out of the room an into the generators. Any and all form of organization was absent and reeked of reckless and rushed behavior.

Reaper began to wander about the room, noticing different scribbles and scratches across the pieces of paper. Some were crumpled and spread across what remained of the floor. Reaper continued on and picked a book off one of the countless stacks and realized it had to do with multiverse theory. The masked blonde's eyebrows rose as he looked at the spines of the other books, to see they were all related to the subject he held in his hands.

"Huh." Reaper muttered as he closed the book. "Better than nothing I guess." as he set the book back on the stack, he noticed two beacons of clarity in the corner of his eye though. There was a part of the room enshrouded with darkness, but right next to it, was a computer with a worn book at the keyboard's side. Curiosity got the better of him as he rummaged through the stacks of books and made his way to the computer. After booting it up he growled at the password screen that mocked him.

"Sombra's going to kill me when she finds out how I wasted this." Reaper muttered as he reached into his side pouch and pulled out a flash drive. Without hesitation, he inserted the small device and saw a few lines of code be produced. Before he could say anything more, the code disappeared and he was directed to the home page.

Reaper quirked an eyebrow at the lack of anything on the computer and nearly chuckled at the massive contrast to the room he resided in. One file stuck out and Reaper clicked on it with a bit of urgency, not knowing how much time he had left. What popped up was a collection of entries from who he guessed, was the leader of the operation.

"Doctor Watts." Reaper said as he scratched the back of his head. "Why does that sound so familiar?" Nevertheless, he decided to read on to see what the good doctor had to say on the situation at hand.

Watts' entry, Wednesday 3 P.M.

 _I am one to never believe in superstition such as magic or fate, even if my mistress hails from such a time, but for once, I make an exception when it comes to the concept of luck. Nothing out of place on my part. Bribery from a vale council member here, a few more inventions there, but when IT came while I was observing the Grimm in the Forever Fall, then and only then did I have a sliver of faith in luck._

Reaper shuddered at the memory of the Forever Fall. It didn't matter what dimension he was in, there was no changing how he felt about that place.

 _I was nearly killed when it arrived. Slammed into the ground a few yards to my right and disintegrating a few trees in the vicinity. Given the mass of such a creature, I was surprised to lack any damage from the shrapnel. There was another object that came soon after, perhaps trailing behind the devastation. I investigated the smaller object first, only to find a journal. Whoever this Jaune Arc is, I just may have to report it to Salem._

"So, there is another one." Reaper said as he looked at the journal to his side, before pocketing it with no hesitation.

I would find the concept of time travel preposterous in any other situation, given that the journal said he was from ten years into the future, but after witnessing what had happened in my expedition, I may make an exception, considering that what he had said about the festival matches the plans we have to retrieve the Fall Maiden's powers.

"Ten years…" Reaper said as he made a mental note to talk to Arc about what he had found. He decided to move to the next entry as the paranoia of the authorities seeped him.

Watts, Thursday 3 A.M.

 _I curse my sloppy nature. I hate the disorganization, but I could not pass up this opportunity. It has taken me 12 hours to accumulate every resource and favor at my disposal, given security and needed hands to work on my research, I can sacrifice a bit of my dignity and hygiene for a breakthrough in multiverse theory._

 _This wasn't the only one. Reports have said four other beams of light had appeared in Vale. Given no gargantuan masses have been reported, I would say my discovery was the only exception. I have given word to Salem to look into this Jaune Arc who was the author of the journal, but the report from Cinder perplexed me, claiming he was no threat at all. Just a student at Beacon who happens to be lacking in all his subjects. Still, I have my doubts._

"Gotta keep an eye on that Fall bitch."

 _The subject, however, dwarfs any confusion in comparison to Mr. Arc. It is clearly a Grimm. But it is dormant. Passive and while it is alive, I can't make heads or tails of what it actually is. It has stirred a bit due to the fearful scientists we "acquired," so the fact it revels in negativity is definitely a similarity to the rest of the Grimm._

 _Yet it is picky. It acts short-tempered and almost pouty whenever the negativity spikes or when one of the animals harasses the workers. It stirs for a bit, but quickly relaxes, as if it is after a specific person's negativity. I need to report this to Salem directly, considering she is the expert on these creatures._

"Picky Grimm huh?" Reaper said as he took another flash drive out from his pouch, knowing this evidence would be crucial to Ozpin.

 **"You're here a** **t** **Last**." Reaper stopped in his tracks as he was only a few millimeters away from inserting the drive. His head throbbed as a sharp pain inserted itself into his synapses. Despite his confusion, he turned to the source. The darkness in the corner of the room was all reaper could see as he took a few steps forward.

 **"Did the travel hurt you as well? I am lucky to follow you to wherever we are."** a chuckle rattled in reaper's head. **"I'm glad you sought me out, I can feel that aura from anywhere, Old Friend."** confusion only grew within the masked man as he got closer to the source. He searched the wall for any light, and as his fingers flicked the nearest light, his red eyes widened in disbelief.

Red eyes bore into Reaper as he was face to face with a black mass that twisted and turned within the massive stasis tube. It looked as if it was an enormous shadow that felt barely contained in Reaper's opinion, but those red eyes that matched his. Reaper forgot how long it had been, but he could feel his feet frozen to the floor.

 **"I was close. So, so, close, but now we must wait a little longer.** " the voice rang within his head as Reaper looked up and down at whatever he was looking at. **"I may need you just a bit more before we settle our sc-!"** Both Reaper and the mass jolted as Reaper felt some sort of connection to whatever was in the tube. The red eyes that peered at the masked man widened before they narrowed with anger.

 **"You… aren't him."** the voice said as Reaper could only stand there, trying to tune out the entity's voice. **"You are him… but** aren't. **"** it growled with ferocity, to which Reaper took a step back. **"You are nothing more than one of my peons!"** Reaper froze as he felt his cells feel heavier than he ever felt before.

 **"Kneel."** was all it said. Reaper could feel his body grow heavy as his legs quaked beneath him. **"I SAID KNEEL BEFORE YOUR KING!"**

"AAAGH!" Reaper screamed as he fell to his knees. His head rang endlessly and his cells felt as if they were pulling his entire being to the ground. The shadow in the massive tube gave no effort as he seeped out of the chamber and loomed over the masked blonde.

 **"You are just a copy. A mistake."** the voice echoed once more in his head. **"No matter. You will be of some use."** the entity took no time in shifting it's way over to Reaper, bound by whatever force that was upon him. A coldness could be felt from whatever was coming his way and Reaper couldn't tell the last time he closed his eyes in paralyzed fear.

Whatever was coming his way ceased. Reaper opened his eyes to see that the shadow stopped, nearly frozen for some reason. What the masked psychopath noticed, was that the mass congealed up and looked almost as if its head was perked up, angled in a direction. Reaper could only watch as he felt the pressure on his being let up.

 **"That anger."** Reaper could hear. A distortion in sound emitted from the shadow, as if it was chuckling. **"There you are."** Reaper heard as the shadow crept away from him and out the cracks of the warehouse. All pressure was absent as Reaper gasped and took in a few breaths before bolting in the direction of whatever that thing was.

"Oh no." Reaper whispered as he made his way through the cracks of the warehouse and saw the entity, head straight for Beacon.

 **(Re-Jaune: five minutes earlier)**

Students started to file into the arena, whispering among themselves about the man in armor standing next to Ms. Goodwitch. Teams RWBY and JNPR walked in, still distracted over the sudden disappearance of Puppy Arc but regained their composure at seeing Cyborg Jaune standing next to Ms. Goodwitch.

"Wait, isn't that the other version of you Jaune?" Ruby whispered to her friend and he nodded.

"Yeah, Ozpin gave him a teaching position to help with combat class. Call him Sparrow, no one can know he's another Jaune too."

Re-Jaune was about to wave to his fellow arc but was whacked on the head by Weiss.

"What was that for?" Re-Jaune rubbed his head and Weiss gave him her trademark glare.

"You are just as clueless as our Jaune if people see you wave to… you. They'll wonder how you know him and start to wonder who is. We don't want to put that much pressure on him."

"Sorry, I didn't think about that, I'll make sure to be more observant Weiss." Re-Jaune mentioned as he was still a bit disoriented from his travels.

The heiress nodded with a small smile before sitting next to Ruby and John sat next to Pyrrha. The champion had a slight blush on her face, swallowing at the fact that she was once again surrounded by two Jaunes. Re-Jaune was still trying to get an internal grip on his situation.

"Alright class," Goodwitch announced as everyone got situated. "Before we get started. I'd like to introduce my new assistant. Agent Sparrow, formerly one of Atlas's specialist huntsman."

The students murmured amongst themselves in excitement at the thought of another highly trained huntsman to help them with their training. The cyborg took a few steps forward and nodded to the students.

"I hope to see what all of you have to offer in the future. Given that the festival is about to be upon us." Sparrow announced to them all. Both Jaune's in the audience gave the cyborg a smile and were itching with anticipation to see what they were all capable of.

"Alright class, we will start the class with a warm-up match between two students." Goodwitch said as she pressed a few keys on her scroll, letting the monitor spin in random order. Everyone watched on to see who would be up first.

When the randomizer stopped. RWBY and JNPR were taken aback by the sudden surge they felt in their vicinity. All their eyes were on Re-Jaune as his hands were clenched and Pyrrha was shocked to hear the creaking of his teeth. They followed his gaze up to the screen only to look up in confusion. Goodwitch took a step forward, though confused at her new assistant's shocked demeanor.

"Would Jaune Arc and Cinder Fall come down to the arena to fight please?"

* * *

 **Dat cliffhanger tho, hope everyone enjoyed! Fav and follow if you like the story and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to** Masseffect **-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19** and **Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters! Fav and follow or I'll delete your fortnite account!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

Masseffect **-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

Jaune walked down to the arena slowly, fidgeting with his armor strap and holding onto Crocea Mors tightly. Cinder sauntered her way to the arena, her hips swaying back in forth catching the eye of a few spectators at how hypnotic her movements were. She stood across from Jaune with an amused smile and confident posture, while the blonde knight swallowed shakily, his body feeling stiff as he readied himself.

"The match will end by aura depletion or ring out, BEGIN!"

Up in the stands, Jaune's friends cheered him on, while his two counterparts were attempting to keep their emotions in check of the woman, as it took nearly all of Re-Jaune's restraint not to just speed down there and snap her neck with his bare hands.

'Can't do that…need to see what she's planning, because this never happened in my world or my time…so what is she up to?' Watching his counterpart as Jaune readied himself as he held up his shield.

'From what I've seen watching Cinder in combat class, she specializes in only using her semblance. I'll need to get close so that she can't use her flame semblance and counterattack.' Jaune held his shield firmly in front of himself, ready to take any hit that came. His eyes widened in disbelief as a massive fireball was hurtled right toward him, trying to roll out of the way but inevitably felt the flame burn his back.

"GAH! How is it that hot?!" Jaune growled and stood once more. Cinder Yawned in boredom and gave him a lazy grin, flicking her fingers forward inviting the Arc to attack her.

'I gotta think here. Since she only uses her semblance that means her aura reserves have to be large enough to support said semblance. I can use that to my advantage by dodging the massive fireballs she just used and blocking smaller ones if she uses them.'

Jaune held his shield close, covering his entire body before charging right at Cinder. The pyromancer rolled her eyes and sent another fireball at Jaune. The Arc smiled to himself and rolled out of the way completely this time, making his opponent frown in displeasure.

'Now she'll probably use less powerful and more accurate blasts to try and force me back.'

Jaune sprinted forward, pumping aura into his legs making him faster and helping him close the distance between him and his opponent. Cinder sent two thin streams of flame straight at Jaune, colliding with his shield and pushing him back several feet. The knight held his ground and threw himself to the side, out of the way from the inferno and straight at Cinder.

The false maiden erected a wall of fire in front of her, cutting off Jaune from getting close to her and smirking in victory, thinking that all the effort the Arc had used was for nothing. Jaune burst through the flame wall, wincing in pain as the flames tugged at his skin and sent pain dancing all over his body.

Cinder gaped at her opponent in disbelief and didn't move until his blade cut across her chest, bringing the Pyromancer back to her senses from the pain. She stumbled backwards before looking down and seeing the front of her vest be torn along with a small amount of blood leaking from where the blade had landed.

Re-Jaune couldn't help but smirk when he saw her bleed but remained cautious now that his counterpart had managed to land a hit on her. Something, not even his partner had managed to achieve.

Cinders eyes started to glow like hot coals before she screamed in rage and rocketed towards Jaune. The Arc had no time to counter her and felt the full force of the blaze hit him, sending him sailing across the arena in a heap.

Jaune struggled to stand, his body aching as small wisps of fire still burned on his clothes and the feeling of his skin be charred from the flame. Cinder marched towards him, a furious glare on her face as she dug the heel of her boot into his back and talking low enough so only Jaune could hear.

"You disrespectful, worthless, weak, pathetic worm! Do you really think that you'd ever be able to challenge me?! You caught may have caught me off guard, but I was just toying with you, now I am going to crush you and make you beg for mercy!" She snarled before ripping her heel out of his back as blood dripped off of it and slamming an aura infused kick into his stomach.

Jaune coughed up spittle and landed once more onto the floor of the arena, standing back up and on shaky legs, making Cinder even more infuriated than before. The Pyromancer brought her hands together and conjured a fireball even more enormous than the ones before.

His friends gasped as Re-Jaune and Cyborg-Jaune held themselves back from jumping in.

The knight could hear someone scream for his name before taking a step back in fear, his eyes wide with terror before the inferno hit him entirely. The entire arena filled with smoke obscuring everyone's vision as the only thing everyone could hear was the screams of agony coming from Jaune.

The smoke suddenly started to be funneled before the windows opened and were forced out. Glynda took in a breath before running over to Jaune with worry, kneeling next to him and levitating the young Arc, trying to spare him any more pain.

"Agent Sparrow, please dismiss the class and inform Team JNPR that I am taking Mr Arc to the infirmary. And you Miss Fall, I will have words with you later on going too far. Expect at least a week's worth of detention!" Glynda ordered Cyborg Jaune and chastised Cinder before sprinting out of the arena with Jaune in tow.

"Team JNPR please meet me outside. Because of the injuries and destroyed arena class is now canceled. You may leave and go about your business." Cyborg Jaune ordered before disappearing in a flash.

NPR stood up in worry before looking over at Re-Jaune and recoiling in shock. Re-Jaune's hands were bleeding from tightly he was gripping them as blood dripped onto the floor. His hair whipped across his face and aura started to swirl around him in absolute rage.

"John! We need to meet Sparrow outside! Calm down and come on. Please!" Pyrrha begged and John calmed down a bit before nodding and joining them. The four walked out of the stand and waited outside the arena entrance for sparrow. John was breathing in deeply, trying to reign in his anger bumping into someone without meaning to.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" John cut off immediately before he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists again.

"Apology not accepted." Cinder responded before she started to walk away slowly but turned around with a smug smile.

"I have to say though, I'm quite disappointed that someone from the legendary Arc clan was so weak. He's quite the sorry excuse for a warrior and a leader. You could say he is just a failure hm?"

"Don't you dare call him that!" Pyrrha was about to yell at her but Nora beat her to it and stomped forward getting in Cinder's face. The older woman gave Nora an amused smile before looking behind the Valkyrie and at Jaune's brother.

John stayed silent saying nothing as he barely held his anger back, blood dripping through his fingers again as Cinder looked at him.

"My, my, don't you look agitated…Who are you again?"

Any restraint inside Re-Jaune shattered as the same words he heard years ago echoed in his ears. The memory of a Mistralian Academy. Facing before a cowardly lion and a Bandit Queen. A similar woman uttering those same words that drove him insane.

A great pressure slammed down upon the arena as Cinder and everyone fell to their knees, not knowing what was weighing them down. Until their gaze shifted to John as his aura twisted and swirled around him like a great flame of white. The arena floor cracking from the pressure as the entire building began to quake.

The false maiden started to panic, not knowing what was holding her in place. Sparrow and Ruby rounded around the corner seeing John glow with rage. Nearly falling to their knees as the pressure was almost too much for the Cyborg.

"Shit! Ruby I'm going to try to restrain him! I need you and Pyrrha to calm him down!" Cyborg Jaune ordered before sprinting forward and slamming into Re-Jaune with as much force he could muster. His fellow Arc only moved a few feet back before stepping towards Cinder, murderous intent in his eyes as he reached for his blade.

"John get a hold of yourself dammit!" Sparrow flipped in front of him and grabbed his counterparts' wrists, stopping him from drawing his blade.

Re-Jaune, however, continued to glare at Cinder, while he locked hands with Cyborg Jaune who was struggling to even stand. The time traveler shifted his gaze to Sparrow as the Cyborg felt a brief moment of terror as he stared into the eyes of his Alternate Counterpart.

He forced Sparrow to his knees before bending the cyborg's wrists back. "Get out of my way." He lowly growled as Cyborg Jaune, while still afraid, continued to try and hold him back.

"John! Stop! Please!" Pyrrha pleaded in unison with Ruby. The two barely getting through to him as his aura continued to rage around him. He looked back at the two as he saw fear in their eyes. In an instant, he realized what he had done, as the rage started to subside before letting go of Sparrow and allowing his aura to finally coming back under his control.

He looked around at the terrified faces of all the students and even the teacher herself as he cursed himself for letting his emotions take sway of him. This wasn't her, he told himself…this wasn't the one he had to kill. But that didn't mean he would let her arrogance go unpunished.

He looked down at the barely breathing Cinder and glared at her with contempt.

"My name…is John Arc and I am Jaune's older brother. If you ever harm him or one of my friends like that again, I will show you just how powerful an Arc really is...count on it"

Re-Jaune gave one last glare to the woman who, for a moment, thought she was staring into the eyes of Death himself. He scoffed at her before walking away with the newly arrived WBY who saw the last bits of the altercation and NPR in tow with Sparrow standing in front of Cinder.

The False Maiden only continued to stare in shock as she felt true and utter fear in her soul.

"Take my advice, Miss Fall," she turned her head to the Ninja as he glared down at her. "Don't wake the sleeping bear…unless you're ready to get bitten." Sparrow warned her before speeding away, leaving the false maiden to stew in her own thoughts.

 **(RWBY and NP)**

"So, how's Jaune, Pyrrha?" Ruby asked with a bit of concern.

"Professor Goodwitch got word and said he'll be fine Ruby. The burns will be gone within a few hours, so he'll be able to come back to the dorm within an hour or so."

"Good! Glad he's recovering fast. That Cinder girl's semblance was insane! She was like that one comic character uh...Oh! The Human Flare!"

"Ruby she only shot out flames, she wasn't covered in flames like the Human Flare."

"Could we also address the elephant in the room? That other Jaune, the older one that looks exactly like our Jaune. He...he looked at Cinder as if he wanted to kill her." Weiss spoke with suspicion in her voice and Pyrrha nodded.

"I understand what you mean Weiss. He had an aura of killer intent around him. His aura was suffocating, it was like trying to wade through quicksand."

"The question is though since he's from the future, does Cinder have some sort of bad blood with him?" Blake asked and everyone nodded.

"It could be a reason. We can ask him later though, I wonder what Zwei has been up to!" Ruby squealed in excitement before opening her door and her excitement immediately died.

The room looked as if a bomb went off. All of RWBY's dressers were knocked over, the table broken in two, Ruby's bed hung from a single rope in the corner as clothes were completely scattered across the room. In the center of all the chaos was Puppy Arc and Zwei, laying on their sides barely swatting one another with their paws, exhausted from the battle they had just fought. Pyrrha and Weiss rushed over to the two dogs, the Champion holding Puppy Arc and Weiss holding Zwei. The two pooches stopped glaring at one another and indulged themselves in the snuggles coming from their favorite humans, a few seconds passed before the two remembered that they were fighting, squirming in the arms of the two girls trying to lunge at one another's throats.

"Zwei! My precious little pooch why are you fighting with Jaune?" Weiss spoke softly to the stubby dog who's ears flattened against his head in shame.

"Son…of a bitch…started it." Puppy Arc wheezed out. Yang couldn't help but burst with laughter at the unintentional pun.

"MY BOOK!" Blake screamed as saw her book be torn to shreds. Any remnant of the book was scribbled with crazy markings from Weiss' pen.

"Jaune, you furry little troublemaker. What am I going to do with you?" Pyrrha smirked down to the blonde fluffball who panted happily, going limp in his partner's arms.

"Don't worry Zwei, we'll get Jaune's behavior straightened out! You're too innocent to make all this mess." Weiss cooed making Pyrrha's eye twitch in anger.

"I'm sorry, what's that supposed to mean Weiss?" Pyrrha spoke through gritted teeth as metal started to swirl around her.

"Zwei is the cutest and nicest boy around. Yes you are, oh yes you are! It's obvious that this is all that Jaune's fault. He started this!"

"Jaune is the more intelligent being between the two of them! He's literally Jaune as a puppy and he can talk!" Pyrrha growled as Puppy Arc opened his jaws to say something but was interrupted when Pyrrha glomped him tighter into her sweet bosom, making the Arc pup's tail wag in pleasure.

'Yes! I have found paradise!' The pooch thought to himself as he smothered his face in the canyons of softness.'

"Ha! Preposterous! Considering that it's Jaune as a dog that means he's less intelligent than Zwei any day of the week!"

"Are you saying my partner isn't as smart as a dog?! Choose your next words carefully Weiss or you'll end up regretting it!" Pyrrha fumed and held Puppy Arc tighter, his tiny head buried between her breasts.

"I can die a happy doge..." Puppy Arc said muffled in the suffocating knockers of his favorite snuggle partner.

"That's because your partner IS less intelligent than Zwei and that includes the human one." Weiss said smugly as every piece of metal in the room swirled around Pyrrha like a tornado. Weiss's eyes narrowed as she summoned a few baby nevermore around her and the two women gave one another the same death glare that Zwei and Puppy Arc just had a few moments ago.

"Uhh ladies? Cereal girl? Ice queen?" Yang tried to draw the two femme fatales attention but neither of them paid her any mind.

"Yang, I've only seen that face on Pyrrha ony once before and that was when that Shade girl groped Jaune's junk at that second trip to Forever fall! That chick is still in recovery and it's been over two weeks since that happened! We either need to stop them or RUN!" Nora said in rare fear and Yang could tell the hammer-wielder was serious.

"Ok well, you two can hash this out some other time! Nora, grab Pyrrha and I'll grab Weiss."

The Valkyrie nodded and threw Pyrrha over her shoulder, who was still giving Weiss a death glare and the metal did not stop swirling smacking Nora in the forehead.

"Hey! Watch where that crap flies Pyrrha!" Nora grumbled before walking out the door with Pyrrha in tow, Yang held Weiss back while covering her mouth preventing whatever obscenities the Ice Queen was trying to say not be heard and Blake held the shredded remains of her book as tears fell from her eyes.

"My precious book (sniff) it was so innocent."

"No, it wasn't! It was filth!" Ruby yelled as she grabbed the remains from Blakes' hands and threw the forbidden book out the window

"Nooo! My baby!" Blake cried before falling to the floor and wailing in despair. Ruby rolled her eyes as she took Zwei from Weiss's arms and toward her bunk. Blake turned her gaze toward the corgi and hissed, clawing at the stubby pooch with her hand. Ruby backed up slowly and sat down on weiss's bed with Zwei in tow, looking at Yang who was still covering the heiress's mouth and her partner who was looking at the situation with bewilderment.

"Ok...that was weird." Ruby said before Blake gave another low hiss and jumped out the window in search for her sacred treasure.

In that singular moment, a cold war had been commenced between Weiss and Zwei, and Puppy Arc and Pyrrha. Only one pooch could reign supreme as the cutest dog in Beacon!

Puppy Arcs revelation to the commenced war was cut short as he was practically ripped from Pyrrha's warm embrace. The pooch's ears shot up at the sudden absence and began to growl.

"Hey!" Puppy Arc heard Pyrrha shout right after she was put down by Nora. Once the puppy got a sense of his surroundings, he saw he was in the clutches of his masked counterpart, Reaper

Puppy Arc was about to protest at Reaper's intervention, but noticed something was definitely up. He was out of breath, his smoke was barely simmering, and due to the angle of where the pooch was, Puppy Arc could see Reaper's eyes dart in all directions.

"I need to borrow him for a bit." Reaper said in between breaths as he held the dog by the scruff of his neck. "Where are the others?" he addressed to Pyrrha, though Puppy Arc could tell interacting with the champion was one of the last things he wanted to do.

"They are looking after Jaune in the infirmary." Pyrrha said with distaste in her mouth. Puppy Arc's ears perked up and Reaper's eyes widened behind his mask.

"What the hell did that idiot do?" Reaper growled and Pyrrha's eyes narrowed at the hooded blonde.

"That Cinder girl lost her temper after he scratched her and nearly fried him." Nora said with folded arms. Reaper could see the hatred within the bomber rise, but decided to say nothing.

"Wait, isn't Cinder the one that killed-!" Puppy Arc's muzzle was clamped shut by Reaper. The two huntresses in training looked at the puppy with shock and then to Reaper looking for an explanation.

"One problem at a time, Mutt." Reaper growled as he quickly stepped back and darted down the hallway, ignoring the cries from Nora and Pyrrha.

"So, what's up with you?" Puppy Arc asked as all he could do was let his small body hang by his scruff while Reaper practically beelined it to the infirmary. "Get any leads?" the pooch followed up as he could see through the slits of Reaper's mask that his eyes narrowed.

"Something like that." Reaper replied as they stopped at the infirmary lobby. A surprised nurse greeted them as the hooded man walked up to the front desk.

"C-Can I help you sir?" the receptionist asked as she couldn't help but shrink in Reaper's presence, her fear dissipated as he held up a golden, fluffy, dog.

"Here to see Jaune Arc." Reaper said. "I'm a friend giving him a get well present." To which the dog barked happily to reinforce his claim.

"Oh!" the receptionist said as she looked up the blonde knight's name on her computer. "He's just down the hall. He has two other guests with him at the moment. I'm sure he'll love the surprise."

"Me too." Reaper said as he quickened his pace to Jaune Arc's room. Puppy Arc decided to say nothing more until they were present with the other Jaunes.

Reaper turned the corner and saw the room he was looking for. There was no knock as he twisted the knob and made his way in, much to all the other Jaunes' surprise. Reaper saw that Re-Jaune and the cyborg were standing by their blonde counterpart, who was clad in nothing but bandages. Reaper internally winced at the amount of burns the blonde night sustained, but that didn't stop him from setting the dog down on the bed and quickly darting to every window. All he could see was the Emerald Forest, where that thing slinked off to. The memory of whatever that monstrosity caused his cells to shudder.

"Damn." Puppy Arc said, earning the attention of all the Arcs. "That Cinder girl did a number on you huh?" Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at the talking pooch.

"Yep. Though the doctors say I should be good in a few hours." Jaune said as he tried to stretch, only to wince at the burns. Puppy Arc laughed at his fellow blonde's pain, but was cut off with a glare from the time traveler.

"And where the hell did you wander off to?" Re-Jaune scolded as he folded his arms, to which the puppy glared out the door.

"Looking for comics to read, but ended up in a war…" Puppy Arc said with an ominous demeanor radiating off him.

"He got in a fight with Zwei." Reaper mentioned to the group as he kept scanning the tree line of the forest. He could hear the rest of them laugh at the thought of such a scenario happening.

"Okay, okay." Re-Jaune said as he tried to stifle his chuckle. "At least tell us next time when you decide to ditch." the pooch nodded at the request and decided to curl up in the bandaged Arc's lap.

"You okay, Reaper?" Cyborg Jaune asked, earning the attention of the rest of them. They all looked back to their hooded teammate, who hadn't stopped looking out the window.

"He just got back." Puppy Arc mentioned as they all kept looking at him with confusion. "Looks exhausted though. I asked him what was going on, but he hasn't said anything yet." Re-Jaune furrowed his eyebrows and took a step towards him.

"Reaper?" Re-Jaune asked. Reaper quickly shut the blinds and darted towards the door, locking it.

"We should be alright for now." Reaper mentioned to mostly himself as he took a deep breath and looked up to the rest of them.

"Did you find anything in Vale?" Jaune asked as he continued to pet the dog.

"Yes." Reaper replied as he looked to the blonde knight. "What happened in the Merlot incident?" he suddenly asked, causing Jaune to raise his eyebrows.

"Well, while my team and team RWBY were fighting a death stalker, Dr. Merlot was preparing a machine above us. I was…" Jaune paused as he scratched the back of his head. "Thrown in between the two beams by the Deathstalker." this fact caused the puppy to chuckle. "Next thing I see are beams of light that shot up and headed toward the city." the laughter ceased as all the Arcs looked at him wide eyed.

"Well that solves why we were brought here." Re-Jaune surmised he looked to Reaper and noticed his arms were folded.

"How many beams of light?" Reaper demanded almost desperately.

"Five I think." Jaune replied quickly, clearly backing away from the Reapers sharp words.

"That explains it." Reaper muttered.

"Reaper, what is going on?" Re-Jaune asked as he and the cyborg were getting a little fed up with the secrecy.

"Remind me, Arc." Reaper replied as he turned towards the time traveler. "How's the war against the Grimm going?" Re-Jaune's breath hitched quietly, so quiet, that Puppy Arc was the only one to pick up on his distraught. Re-Jaune steeled himself and looked at the masked man.

"It is about even right now. A bit touch and go from last I checked, but we have a chance." there was a silence among them all as Re-Jaune told them what was happening. To which Reaper scoffed.

"We really are the same person." Reaper said as he began to pace in front of Jaune's hospital bed. "Despite our differences, we really are shitty liars."

"What does he mean by that?" Sparrow asked as he and Puppy Arc's confusion spiked. Jaune on the other hand couldn't help but look away at the word 'liar.'

"There is no war." Reaper said. "At a time, there was, but that changed when humanity was wiped out, wasn't it?"

"Wait. What do you mean wiped out?" Jaune asked, "He told all of us that he led a few sieges against the Grimm, protected the kingdoms, and became practically a war hero."

"Well if you see being one of if not the last human alive on Remnant as a war hero, then you're right on the money." Reaper growled as he looked to Re-Jaune, only for the blonde to glare back with his aura leaking out of him.

"Okay, even if anything of what you said is true," Re-Jaune said as he took a step toward Reaper. "Where's the proo-!" all the Jaune's were taken aback at how quickly Re-Jaune was shut down due to a little worn journal that was resting in Reapers fingers.

"I thought it belonged to another Jaune." Reaper said as he flipped through the pages. "Given you said you were currently at war with the Grimm. But the time of the last entry being ten years from now was a little too coincidental." Reaper looked to the other Jaunes. "As well as the hatred for Cinder fall being spot on." Reaper tossed the small journal to Jaune, who yelped at the sudden object heading right at him.

"Where did you find it?" Re-Jaune hissed as he and Reaper got closer.

"Got a tip from a now handicapped Junior." Cyborg Jaune's eyes widened at the revelation.

"You crippled him?!" he exclaimed at the sudden seriousness of the situation.

"His life was forfeit when he compared me to that whore, Yang."

"Woah!" Puppy Arc exclaimed at the remark. "What did she do to you?"

"You can't just go around doing that! We already messed up this dimension enough!" Cyborg Jaune shouted, ignoring Reaper's opinion on Yang.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten the journal now, wouldn't I?" Reaper was about to go on until he felt his shoulder burn at the sudden grasp of Re-Jaune, who had aura flowing out of him.

"You're going to tell us right now where you found that journal." he practically demanded. Reaper grasped Re-Jaune's hand tightly, allowing his smoke to spin frantically.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, we won't have to go a round." Reaper growled. "Though I would be a liar like you if I said if I wasn't curious how the fight would go." the anger within Re-Jaune rose as he reeled a fist back.

"Who is the Grimm King?" a sudden voice cut through the three Jaune's argument and caused everyone to be still. Every other Jaune looked to the original blonde knight, who had the journal open to the last page. There was a massive amount of fear held within his sapphire eyes. There was no way he could read every journal entry in the amount of time he had it, but he had seen enough.

"Jaune," Re-Jaune said as his aura ceased. He looked at the blonde who shared the same fear he had once.

"Answer him." Reaper demanded with folded arms. Everyone sans Jaune and his time traveling counterpart glared at him.

"The Grimm King is exactly what his name entails. The king of the Grimm." Re-Jaune said with a shaky breath. "He was the reason we lost the war…and the reason humanity went extinct." Jaune's eyes widened to unprecedented proportions.

"So everyone died…" Jaune whispered as his thumb was along the page that mentioned the death of Pyrrha by Cinder's hands.

"Yeah." Re-Jaune said as he sat along the side of Jaune's bed. "It took everything I had, but I killed him. Every weapon from our friends, every bit of training from Pyrrha, and every drop of aura I had went into killing that thing. I ended up dying in the process…" Re-Jaune confessed, earning shock from everyone, including Reaper.

"Then how are you here?" Cyborg Jaune asked, not being able to add The time traveler's story up.

"I don't really know, when I closed my eyes after the fight, I woke up in my mom's arms, as a baby." there was no need for Re-Jaune to look up to his fellow Jaune's as he could feel their confusion. "Look I couldn't make this up. Honest. The Grimm King and I killed each other, and I guess I got a restart at life."

"That's why you're hellbent on stopping Cinder." Cyborg Jaune said with realization as he recalled the promise of death to the pyromancer. Re-Jaune nodded to the Cyborg and turned back to the blonde knight.

"She killed Pyrrha?" there was a brief silence among them all before Re-Jaune let out a breath.

"Yes." all of the alternate Jaunes could see the disbelief in his eyes. The thought of losing such an important person to him, it was too much.

"I can at least vouch for that." Reaper said to Jaune as he walked to the foot of the bed. "Though I was able to reach Pyrrha in time in my world." Jaune nodded at this, though couldn't resist to let out a shaky breath.

"All we need to do is get back to our dimensions so we can stop whatever threats come our way. If that means we help you in the process, then so be it." Re-Jaune said with confidence as the blonde knight resolved himself and nodded towards the rest of the other Jaunes. "And all you need to worry about is Cinder. The Grimm King is dead anyway."

"You sure about that?" all the Jaune's perked up at Reaper's remark as the masked man couldn't help but look away from their gazes.

"What do you mean?" Re-Jaune said with narrow eyes, not at Reaper specifically, but what his words entailed.

"That journal wasn't the only find. I found the fifth beam of light." Reaper's words earned the full attention of everyone as he looked to Re-Jaune with distraught. "Apparently, you had an unaccounted passenger during your trip here." the same fear Jaune had a moment ago became prevalent on the time traveler's face.

"He's dead. I made sure I killed him!"

"Then explain the rematch he's looking forward to? Also explain why he told me himself he was a king and why he kept calling me 'old friend?'"

Fear from all the Arcs began to seep through and fill the room. Despite the despair, confusion, and frustration, one thing was clear.

The Grimm King was here, stalking them all.

* * *

 **Noble: Ominous huh? Hope you all enjoyed! Read, Review, Follow and favorite!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19** and **Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters! Fav and follow or I'll delete your Apex legends account!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

The room was still, the five Arcs saying nothing as the gravity of the situation dawned on them.

"So, this Grimm King...he's the real deal huh?" Cyborg Arc asked as Re-Jaune nodded grimly.

"It… _he_ …is destruction incarnate. He basically wiped out the rest of the Kingdoms, killed the rest of my friends and reduced the entire world to ash. You think Salem is bad, this guy makes her look like a cake walk." The ninja let out a deep breath and took off his helmet, staring at his four other counterparts.

"Wait, who's Salem?" Original Jaune asked as Re-Jaune cursed and held up his finger.

"Not now little bro!" he stressed, cursing slightly about slipping that piece of information.

"What, you have something else you're hiding, Arc?" Reaper asked/demanded as he glared at the time traveller.

"Don't push me Smokey," he glared. "Don't think we're done yet. You need to tell me everything he said, and where the hell he went. If he is here, then I need to"

"Do what, go out there and kill him? Cause from the looks of it, you're not very good at it." Re-Jaune glared as his Aura began to stir but was stopped as Cyborg growled in annoyance and stood in-between them.

"This needs to stop."

"What are you talking about?" Reaper asked as his fingers tightened along his crossed arms.

"Exactly what you guys warned me about. You do realize we basically were played like fiddles today by the headmaster, right?" Sparrow retorted as the thought of Ozpin not being what he seemed resonated in his head for the entirety of the day.

"The hell you talking about robo boy?" Reaper scoffed as Sparrow stared at his masked counterpart.

"Think about it. I was assigned to be a support teacher for Glynda's class and only her class. That's Ozpin's second in command keeping an eye on me the entire day while also forcing me to stay on school grounds. Reaper, he gave you no specific instructions but I think you fail to realize that Ozpin has eyes everywhere, who's to say he didn't have Qrow or someone from his inner circle follow you into Vale to see what you were doing? And finally, you Arc, he enrolled you as Jaune's twin brother effectively allowing him to monitor you at all times without raising suspicion and keep you stuck at Beacon unless teams RWBY and JNPR go out into the city.

"What about me?" Puppy Arc spoke up and the cyborg gave the pooch a blank stare.

"You're a talking dog, why would he need to keep tabs on you?"

The yellow puffball opened his jaws to speak with one paw raised in the air before stopping and nodded in agreement.

"Fair point."

"We all need to work together. No more lone wolf shit, no more handicapping people." Sparrow glared at Reaper who looked away and whistled without care.

"And no more freak outs!" his outburst focused on the time traveler who flinched. "Arc, I understand that Cinder is a horrible human being who murdered Pyrrha, trust me I care for Pyrrha just as much as you do, but you have to keep your cool and not destroy the school in a blood rage for revenge!" Re-Jaune winced and tugged at his collar, guilt evident on his face.

"Yeah! You two need to stop being renegades!" Puppy Arc snorted in laughter before the cyborg set his sights on him.

"I haven't forgotten about you!"

"Wha?!"

"Don't go off wandering on your own without telling us! You can't fight normally so what happens if someone kidnaps you?" the puppy scoffed as he puffed up his chest.

"Me biting a Beowolf's head off begs to differ!"

"That's a Grimm! They're easy to deal with in comparison to who's going to attack us, what happens if Salem's flunkies find out about us? They'll go for the weakest link out of all of us, you!"

Puppy Arc rubbed his chin and shrugged.

"True...but if I don't talk people will think I'm just a dog. I could be a spy dog!" The ninja looked at the pooch with a deadpan stare before Re-Jaune spoke up.

"He actually brings up a good point sparrow. If he can eavesdrop on Cinder's pawns, we could get info without giving ourselves away."

The Cyborg nodded in agreement and put his helmet back on, his body lighting up blue before flickering on and off.

"Un Sparrow? You doing ok?" Jaune asked his cyborg self.

"Fine why do you ask?" The cyborg replied before his back sparked and ignited Jaune's bandages setting the Arc on fire once more.

"AHHHH! NOT AGAIN!" Jaune wailed as he jumped out of the bed, his I.V. torn out spraying fluid everywhere as the young Arc ran around the room trying to pat out the flames.

"STOP DROP AND ROLL JAUNE! STOP DROP AND ROLL!" Puppy Arc yapped as he ran alongside his human counterpart, barking at him and laughing along the way.

"You stupid ass tin can moron!" Reaper yelled at Sparrow as he broke the glass for the fire extinguisher and proceeded to pull the trigger but nothing happened. He turned the extinguisher around and looked down the barrel of it to see if it was clogged.

"The fuck? This thing broken or some-" He was cut off as the ice-cold foam shot out and collided with his face. Reaper coughed and thrashed as the chilling foam sprayed all over him, not knowing if the foam was on him or literally a part of him now.

"Don't worry Jaune! I got you!" Re-Jaune yelled before tearing off the curtains from the window and tackling his younger self.

*Crunch!*

"GAHHH! My hand! You broke my hand man!"

"Sorry! Sparrow! Go get the nurse!"

"On it!" The cyborg yelled back before running to the door. He went to pull the handle when the door suddenly swung open and slammed into his helmet, leaving a dent on the door.

"Jaune! We wanted to check up on you and-" Pyrrha stopped talking as she looked at the scene in front of her. Sparrow was stumbling around shaking his head and knocking over lab equipment, looking as though he was trying to shake off a headache or something with his blue visor flickering. Reaper was in the corner of the room cursing at a fire extinguisher while covered in icy foam, proceeding to hit the tool until it broke in half in rage as his eyes grew brighter, Re-Jaune was holding onto a curtain while trying to get Jaune off the floor whose hand looked to be bent at a wrong angle, bandages looked to be burned and Puppy Arc was sprawled out on the floor, laughing hysterically at the situation.

RWBY and NPR said nothing as they gazed at the scene unfolding in front of them dumbstruck at what they were witnessing.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day!" Nora giggled with her trademark maniacal grin as everyone else just sighed.

They may be different more badass versions of their friend, but they were just as clumsy and unlucky as Jaune. "It's officially…. you're all definitely Jaune Arc." Weiss commented as she shook her head.

"H-how did this happen?!" Ruby rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing right, trying hard to comprehend the chaos in front of her.

"It's because metal boy here is fucking broken and set Jaune on fucking fire!" Reaper growled as he wiped off some of the icy froth and Sparrow finally stopped stumbling, walking over to them still shaking his head.

"Language." Ruby chided. Reaper rolled his eyes and tried to get the remainder of the foam off him.

"I'm not broken...just heavily damaged and need to conduct some repairs." Sparrow sighed before walking past his friends. "Where's the maintenance area?"

"It's by the front of the school. A little to the left of the entrance." Ruby said. The cyborg nodded then sprinted away at high speeds towards the Beacon forge.

"I'll check on him." Ruby mentioned before bolting his way in a flurry of petals. Once she was gone, the remaining students and Jaunes heard Reaper sigh.

"I guess I'll go and reacquaint myself with this oh so lovely school." the masked man grumbled as he walked past the group, shoving his shoulder past yang as she was a bit in his way.

"Dick." she muttered as she rubbed her shoulder and once he was out of hearing range. They didn't announce it, but the time traveler saw Ren and Nora walk out the door in the same way Reaper went. Re-Jaune was about to ask what they were up to, but was cut off from a wink from the bomber. He smiled at his two partners and focused his attention on the rest of them.

"Puppy Arc and I will stay here with Jaune while the nurse comes and checks on his hand." Re-Jaune said with a toothy grin. "We all just need a bit of space to breathe for a bit. Though we all agreed not to stray too far."

"Mind if I stay with you guys?" Pyrrha asked, earning a smile from her partner, a frantic tail wagging from the pooch, and a nervous glance from the time traveler.

"Go on ahead," Puppy Arc said as he hopped into her arms.

"You know I won't say anything against it." Jaune said with a smile. He looked to his "brother" and noticed he wasn't as on board with the idea compared to the rest of them.

"Sure." Re-Jaune said as if he had to force the words out of his mouth.

"We'll check on Ruby when she's done with the cyborg." Blake said with assurance and the blondes nodded at this. Once their sister team left, the time traveler felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck as the one he once loved gave him a smile he missed so much.

"Oh boy." he muttered under his breath.

 **(Cyborg Jaune)**

"Ok Mercy, give me the full diagnostics." A series of codes flashed across his visor as the A.I. got to work and displayed a holographic display of his injuries.

"Your limbs have sustained quite a bit of damage when traveling here. The fight with your colleague did not help the matter at all either."

"I know. So what's making me so sluggish?"

"Your internal cuplink wires have been disconnected because of the sudden surge of power from the travel. I advise you to repair each limb one at a time by detaching said limb."

"Your back, however, is a whole different story. Your armor protected all vital areas but is heavily damaged. I suggest trying to acquire a replacement or find someone who can repair your backplate."

"Alright, will do Mercy. Thanks again."

The A.I. smiled before disappearing, leaving Sparrow to fix himself in peace.

'Ok, now let's detach my arm.' The cyborg thought to himself as he gripped his right shoulder and the limb detached from his shoulder socket.

'Now, let's see just how screwed up you are.'

He opened the outer plating of his arm and whistled lowly.

"Son of a bitch...all my wires are completely out of place. Gotta realign each one in the proper circuit and make sure I don't shock myse-" Sparrow shook his hand and frowned.

"OW! Son of a bitch! Dammit...Thought I could do this by myself but I can't. I need human hands for this..." The cyborg tapped his helmet thinking about who he could ask.

"Hey, Jau- I mean! Sparrow! Hows it hanging agent sparrow?" Ruby asked her friend as nonchalantly as possible but failed to do so. The ninja looked back at her and smiled behind his helmet.

"Just the help I was looking for. Is there a private area we can go to Ruby? I'm trying to make repairs and I could use your help."

"Hmmm. I don't know...maybe if I can look at your weapons and armor~?" Ruby asked with a sing-song voice as her eyes sparkled brightly.

"Yes, Ruby you can look at my armor and gear. I'll even let you help me fix my limbs."

"EEEEE! Yes! Follow me!" Ruby squealed and motioned Sparrow to follow her. He shook his head and grabbed his arm, following the young rose.

They walked toward an abandoned part of the forge and stopped in front of an old door.

"Wait you guys have a private forge?"

"Not exactly...we found this old smithing room a while back when the entire forge was being used. It's our secret little space!"

"Well, that's something we never had in my world."

"Dang, that sucks. When you get back, you'll be able to use it then!"

"Thanks Rubes." He smiled and pulled off his helmet before sitting down.

"What do you need me to do Sparrow?"

"You can call me Jaune when we're alone if you want Ruby."

"Ok Jaune! So, what do you need help with?"

"I need you to guide each color-coded wire into the proper circuit."

"You can't guide it in yourself? Why?"

"Well using only one arm is hard enough, my metal fingers conduct too much of an electrical current and hurts like a bitch when I try to connect the wire. Back when in my world I had Pyrrha help with my repairs because of her semblance."

"Oh...So why don't you just ask her?"

"Ruby, Pyrrha has fainted twice seeing all of the Jaune's together. I think it'd be a good idea that I just keep my helmet on at all times when around her. Don't need her fainting again."

"Yeah, that's a good point. Pyrrha really can't help herself. I mean, what would you do if three Pyrrha's appeared in front of you?"

"...Fair point, let me just reattach my arm first then you can connect those circuits to the color their coded to."

Ruby nodded and sat next to him. She ran her hand down his arm admiring the craftsmanship and feeling the cool metal as it touched her fingertips. The rose shook her head and inserted the wire into the circuit and jumped when Sparrow jumped.

"It's fine Ruby, means that the circuit reconnected. See how my body is glowing more brightly than before?"

She did notice. His body glowed brighter than before. Not much greater but still noticeable enough. Ruby continued to hook up each wire to its respective circuit until the arm was done.

"So Jaune, how did you become a cyborg in the first place?" She asked curiously but frowned when seeing Jaune's eyes close and his breathing hitch.

"That's...something I don't want to talk about Ruby. It'd be best if you didn't know what happened." He closed his eyes again and tried to drown out the sound of a bone-saw whirring, making him grit his teeth, remembering that infernal machines sound all to well.

"I know it must've been bad but was it really so terrible that you can't even talk about it?" Ruby pressed on and moved to his right arm, repeating the process once more.

"Ruby...Please. It's something that's not important." His eyes still closed, flashing back to blood spilled all over the floor and a faunus woman laughing over his mutilated body.

"Do you know anything about the other Jaunes? Why does that sound so weird?" Sparrow chuckled at her question.

"Other than one is practically a time traveler, a talking dog, and practically an entity of hatred? Not really." Ruby pouted a bit as she continued to examine his back.

"He really did a number on you, huh?" Sparrow sighed at the recent memory of their battle.

"Yeah." Sparrow muttered.

Ruby frowned again and hooked up the final wire, Jaune's body glowing even brighter now.

"Good job Rubes, now it's time for my legs." He twisted a knob on each leg revealing the machinery on the inside. Ruby got to work immediately, connecting the wires for the third time and completing the task. She moved onto his other leg going through the motion once more.

"Then could you tell me what your abilities are? Advantages? Cus I've never seen cybernetics like yours before. They look so much more advanced and powerful." Ruby asked and the cyborg scratched his chin.

"I guess I could. The wires your hooking up are the nerve patterns that send signals to my brain which allows me to use superhuman speed, agility and reflexes that exceeds even your semblances speed."

"What?! Hacks! I call hacks! No way you're faster than me!" Ruby pouted and glared at her friend.

"I'll prove it to you after I'm fixed alright? Because my reflexes are faster I can block bullets mid-air and send them back to who shot them. I can also hit harder because of my limbs as well, punching through concrete and even metal is easy for me."

"Man being a cyborg sounds awesome! I'm not very physically strong and can't fight well with crescent rose." Ruby scratched her chin sheepishly and Sparrow chuckled.

"You should learn how to strengthen your weaknesses and perfect your strengths. Only then will you be able to truly call yourself a huntress."

"But why would I learn to fight without Crescent Rose?!"

"What would happen if you lost your scythe in a fight? What would you do then? No plan survives first contact with the enemy Ruby. If you lose your weapon then you need to be able to defend yourself unarmed. Yang would be perfect to teach you how to do so, even I could help."

"Well...maybe I should learn. I guess it couldn't hurt..."

"It's all I ask Ruby." Sparrow smirked at her and she blushed a little. Ruby connected the final component and Jaune's body glowed brilliantly, his armor lighting up as he breathed in deeply.

"Stellar Ruby. Absolutely stellar!" He shouted fully before jumping to the ceiling and embedding his fist into it. He hung there for a second as his diagnostics came back and read green across the board.

"Finally! Back to one hundred percent! Well except for my backplate but that won't be much of an issue so long as I don't get hit." Jaune whispered to himself before jumping down in front of Ruby and grabbing his helmet.

"Thanks a ton Ruby. I really appreciate it."

"Hey what are friends for? Soooo you gonna show me your weapons?"

"Yes, Ruby. A promise is a promise." The cyborg smiled and gave his friend full reign to look over his weapons. Smiling as she gawked over the ninja stars, wakizashi and his Kitana.

'She doesn't need her bubble burst. Not quite yet. Needs to enjoy the time she has here, before it all comes crashing down.' Sparrow thought to himself as his mind was elsewhere, concerned about the new threat that was in their way. What could they do against something like the time traveler depicted for them? They needed a plan if what Arc said was true. Reaper's reinforcement on the matter didn't help them either.

'Wait..,' Sparrow thought to himself as he pulled out his scroll. Ruby looked up from her work in confusion, but decided not to dwell on the cyborg staring at the information section of the Vytal tournament on his scroll.

 **(Reaper)**

The psychopath walked through the barren halls of Beacon thinking about what Sparrow said earlier.

'Tin can might be a pain in the ass but he brings up a good point. I did notice a crow land on the rooftop across from me when I broke into that compound. Dammit, why didn't I notice it sooner?'

The edge-lord sighed at the revelation and walked into the cafeteria for Beacon late night dinner. The server froze upon seeing him and Reaper rolled his eyes, showing the cook his Beacon I.D. which made the poor man sigh in relief. Reaper grabbed a tray of pancakes and sat down at a table, stabbing into the fluffy cake and barely lifting his mask to eat the filling treat. He grumbled at how difficult it was to keep the damn pancake in his mouth, cursing his returning dissipation.

He went to cut into it once more before realizing that eating in peace was now out of the question. Tonight was pancake late night and when there's pancakes there's always-.

"HI Mr. Reaper!" Nora seemed to appear out of thin air and was sitting in front of him with a pancake in her mouth, munching away at it happily. Ren slid next to her with a plate full as well and nodded toward him and Reaper nodded back. They sat in silent for a moment until Nora was done eating her entire stack, pattering her hands on the table in excitement.

"Hey Reaps! Can I call you Reaps?"

"No."

"Ok Reaps! I was curious, How's Beacon from where you're from?" Reaper rose an eyebrow behind his mask.

"Why do you care?" Ren set his silverware down and looked at the masked man.

"We don't really know a lot about any of you. We only known you for a day and we would be lying if we said we didn't want to know more about different versions of Jaune." Reaper nodded at Ren's explanation.

"Beacon was shit when I was there." Reaper said as he looked back to Nora. She giggled at his response.

"That's not a surprise if you came out of that place." Nora chided with a toothy grin. "Mr. Edgy Edgy Reaps." Reaper grumbled, not being able to be truly mad at the bomber.

"You going to eat those?" Nora asked suddenly as she pointed to the masked man's plate of pancakes.

"You can go up and get seconds, you know." Reaper replied as she swiped his plate.

"I'm not hearing a no~." Nora said with a sing sung voice. Reaper stared blankly at her as she devoured his meal.

"Anyways," Ren said, earning his attention. "You must know those clothes would give you that reputation." Reaper looked down at his attire and grimaced at the memory of who gave him his gear.

"They were my teacher's gear." Reaper said as he set both his arms on the table.

"Was he edgier than you?" Nora said in between stuffing her face with pancakes. Reaper shook his head.

"No. Though he did give me a fair share of beatings." Jaune winced at the memories.

"I don't remember a teacher like that at Beacon." Ren said.

"It wasn't at Beacon."

"You graduated?!" Nora said excitedly.

"No." Reaper said with a flat tone.

"Did something happ-!" Ren was cut off by a waving hand from Nora.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, more important question!" Nora shouted as she stood up in her seat and got close to Reaper's face. "What are we like in your world?! Edgier than you? Does Ren wear all black? Do I wear all black?! Oh! Do I get two grenade launchers?!" Reaper looked on at the fiery bomber who was practically jumping up and down in her spot. Ren gave Reaper an apologetic look, but after a moment, the hooded man did something that weirded both of them out.

He chuckled with genuine laughter. No condescending intent, just laughter. Needless to say, his grating voice made it much creepier than it should have been.

"No." Reaper said as he propped his elbows up and looked at Nora. "You guys hadn't changed at all." he smiled beneath his mask and looked to Ren. "Though I will say you two were definitely shocked when you guys found out who I was."

"So you WERE at Beacon for a time." Reaper nodded at Nora's deduction.

"I was your leader for some time."

"What happened?" Ren asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Is that why you don't like team RWBY?" Nora asked as she pointed a fork at him.

"I'm fine with Ruby. It's Yang, Weiss, and Blake who I hate."

"And why do you hate them?" Ren questioned and Reaper put his face in his hand, sighing in exasperation. His brother in arms always was the questioning type, though through more passive methods in comparison to his partner.

"They're the reason why I'm like this. Enough said."

"I don't really see them doing anything that bad." Ren winced at Nora's comment. They looked back to their guest to see that any welcoming demeanor had dissipated. The masked man stood up from his seat and snatched his empty tray from Nora's spot.

"That's what I thought at first." Reaper growled as he got up from over his chair and placed his tray on top of the trash lid before leaving a confused Ren and Nora behind.

"Dammit." Reaper muttered as he continued to wander the halls. He knew Nora was pushy like that and didn't know when to stop talking at times, but what was he supposed to do? Tell them the truth and make them regurgitate their pancakes by showing his face? Reaper shook his head and kept moving forward.

"Where were you? I have been trying to call you since yesterday!" Reaper's head perked up at the sudden voice. The masked man continued to move forward and as he turned the corner to the source, he saw a familiar bunny faunus was standing outside her dorm room with a scroll to her ear. Reaper's confusion rose a bit as the look on Velvet Scarlatina's face went from concerned to terrified.

"Oh my Gods! Are you okay?! Did they do anything to you?!" Reaper continued to watch her go into hysterics and chalked it up to her just finding out what happened to that woman who shared her last name at the warehouse.

"Wait, who saved you all?" the masked man smirked at the confusion in her voice and continued to stay there.

"Okay…" Velvet said into her scroll with skepticism. "Do you need me to come see you?" there was a pause as she let out an irritated growl. "Who cares about the tournament coming up?! I want to make sure you're alri-!" Reaper could see she was distraught due to the person on the other end of the line hanging up.

"Dammit!" she hollered as she pocketed her scroll. Reaper sighed at this as he decided to move onward, knowing he eavesdropped enough. He took two steps out from his cover before he noticed a hitched breath come from the faunus.

"Language." he said as he walked by her. Reaper prayed that would be the end of it, but he closed his red eyes as he heard footsteps come up from behind him.

"Were you at the warehouse district this morning?" Reaper rose an eyebrow.

"Straight to the point, alright." Reaper muttered as he turned toward Velvet. "And if I just so happened to be?" he asked with folded arms. "All games aside, I was wondering if that woman was related to you." Velvet's eyes widened with realization.

"She was telling the truth?!" she exclaimed with a bit of disbelief. Reaper let out a huff of amusement and nodded his head.

"Was that your sister?" Reaper asked for clarification's sake. "She looked a little young to be a mother." Velvet nodded back with a smile.

"Auburn is my older sister. She went into engineering and science while I decided to be a huntress." Velvet replied. "She even made my weapon for me as a present. Just upgraded it this past weekend too." Reaper couldn't help but be surprised at the information, perhaps it was the same way his Velvet got her weapon. "Anyway, thank you so much." the faunus gave him a gentle smile, to which Reaper scratched the back of his hooded head.

"Doesn't matter." Reaper said as he put his right hand down at his side. "You should listen to your sister and focus more on the tournament."

"I guess so." she looked at him quizzically. "Are you going to be there too? I haven't seen you around the school at all."

"I…" Reaper paused a bit as he pondered along the subject of the tournament. He knew all too well what was going to happen, but just maybe…

"Yeah." Reaper said with a bit more confidence. "My team and I were a little late to Beacon given the Breach." Velvet nodded at his lie and her smile grew a bit more.

"Well I guess I may go up against you soon… um." Velvet's excitement paused as she looked at the masked man for a name.

"Reaper." he said as he gestured to his figure. "My parents are really into the dark shit."

"Language." Velvet chided back with her smile returning once more and a wiggle of her ears. That chuckle he had with Ren and Nora as he turned on his heel and headed back to his dorm. He could feel a flash of light envelop his back, though he decided not to ponder on it too much.

Velvet stood there in the hallway with camera in her hand and smile on her face. Coincidence was an odd thing, but she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Velvet hummed a bit as she made her way back to her dorm, reviewing the photo she had of Reaper, It would be the first time she could try out Auburn's upgrade on another huntsman. She pressed a button on the side of the camera and the image of the shrouded figure began to be scanned thoroughly. Posture, potential strengths and weaknesses were being uploaded to her scroll, and she couldn't help but snicker as the device was loading the name of her new acquaintance. Her excitement peaked as she saw the loading was complete and the name of the masked man appeared above his head. She couldn't help but furrow her brows at the identification screen that registered her photos to her weapon.

"Jaune Arc?" she asked as the name above Reaper glitched and distorted for a few seconds.

 **(Re-Jaune and Puppy Arc)**

"So, are you alight Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she sat at the foot of the blonde knight's bed, to which he grumbled as he was once again wrapped in fresh bandages.

"Peachy." Jaune said with folded arms.

"Well the doctor did say it was a minor fracture, so your aura will heal you up by tomorrow." Puppy Arc said as he let out a sigh of relaxation while Pyrrha pet his belly.

"I'm lucky I have a lot." Jaune mentioned as he scratched his head with his non-broken hand.

"That's an understatement." Re-Jaune said as he chuckled at his counterpart's situation.

"Why do you say that?" Pyrrha asked.

"When I went up against cinder my first time, I got my ass handed to me." the time traveler nudged his counterpart "This tough guy could take a fire blast to the face and walk away with a few minor burns."

"You fought her as well?" Pyrrha asked with genuine curiosity while the three Jaune's froze at the time traveler's slip up.

"Uhh." Re-Jaune said with a bit of hesitation.

"Yeah! In the tournament!" Puppy Jaune exclaimed as three pairs of eyes went wide-eyed at him.

"We went up against her in the tournament from where you're from, John?" Pyrrha asked, making the blondes mentally scream at the hole they were digging themselves into.

"Yeah…" Re-Jaune lied through his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck. "You thought that maybe we shouldn't rely on you for the entire tournament." another lie. "So, during the one on one matches, I went up against her." another lie. "Needless to say, I got beat severely for all of Remnant to see." that one wasn't entirely false though, given their duel at Haven academy.

"Well I can definitely see how that would give you distraught." Pyrrha said with a slightly concerned gaze. "You really scared us back at combat class."

"He had a good reason, Pyr." Jaune chimed in as he looked up to the time traveler. The blonde knight noticed that Re-Jaune couldn't look at Pyrrha in the eyes for a few moments before taking a breath. The two blondes looked at each other, now truly having an understanding hatred towards Cinder.

"Well maybe you can go up against her in the tournament?" all three Jaune's in the room looked to their partner with skepticism.

"What?" Re-Jaune asked as he folded his arms.

"Well maybe you two can face off again if you stay for the tournament. Its coming up pretty soon."

"Pyrrha," Re-Jaune said as he leaned off the wall. "I appreciate the thought, but I don't really have a team to work with.

"Well, maybe Ozpin could help." Re-Jaune had to hold every fiber of his being back from snorting at her suggestion. "I mean if you and the other Jaunes really wanted to, I'm pretty sure he'll allow you in the tournament."

"You do realize I'm a dog, right?" Puppy Arc said with a cocked eyebrow. Pyrrha giggled at the pooch and picked him up.

"But you still have aura. I recall Ruby mentioning how her dog helped out at the Breach."

"By giving them emotional support?"

"By being rocketed through a prototype Paladin with Doctor Oobleck." Pyrrha retorted, making the puppy pale at the fact.

"Don't tell Reaper about it. Don't give him ideas." Puppy Arc pleaded as Pyrrha and the other two Jaunes laughed at his dismay.

"Well, Sparrow is considered an instructor, so I don't really think he could qualify." Re-Jaune continued on.

"Like I said, I think Ozpin would let it slide."

"You are really pushing this aren't you?"

"She just wants to see Cinder get the crap kicked out of her." Puppy Arc said with a smirk and narrowed eyes.

"I have no idea what you're on about." Pyrrha said as she refused to look at the dog.

"Well I guess I'm for it." Puppy Arc said as he trotted over to the time traveler. "It cant hurt to ask."

"Well what if we find a way home?" Re-Jaune asked.

"Then we go. In the meantime, we should do what we can to help." The puppy stared at Re-Jaune before nudging his head to Jaune and Pyrrha. Something clicked within the Arc as he realized what he could do. If he was in the tournament, he could just maybe stop history from repeating itself in this world. The Grimm King was his problem and he would deal with it appropriately. But the tournament, that is where everything fell apart for him. That was the beginning of the end for his, mind, his body, and his very soul.

He looked down at the Jaune of the world he resided in who started a conversation with Pyrrha. The two were talking casually and before he could say anything, he saw Pyrrha laugh at his counterpart. It was a laugh he hadn't heard in so long and the dismay Jaune had on his face reminded him of a time he missed so much. His hands balled up into tight fists and with a quick breath, he picked up the dog and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Jaune asked, catching the time traveler as he opened the door.

"Going to have a talk with our headmaster." Re-Jaune said with a smile as he stared at his motivation to protect this world. With that, he shut the door behind him.

"What are you going to say to him?" Puppy Arc asked as Re-Jaune set the dog down on the carpeted floor.

"I have a plan." Re-Jaune said with a smile as he strolled down the hallway with his hands in his pockets. The two walked in silence as they got closer to Ozpin's tower. Once they were at the base, they noticed that Reaper and Sparrow were both waiting at the elevator door.

"Hey guys!" Puppy Arc said as he ran ahead of Re-Jaune.

"Oh! You guys are here too?" Cyborg Jaune asked and the two new additions to the group nodded.

"Yup. How's the body holding up?" Re-Jaune asked the cyborg.

"Much better, but not at full capacity yet. That will take a few days."

"Well it's a step in the right direction." Puppy Arc said as he sniffed the refurbished armor around Sparrow's shins.

"What are you guys here for?" Reaper asked as he saw the elevator level decrease at a slow pace.

"Just asking Ozpin for a favor." Re-Jaune replied.

"You guys want in on the tournament as well?" Reaper asked the time traveler and the dog.

"That obvious?" Puppy Arc asked.

"It's what we're here for too." Reaper replied.

"Will we have to worry about the Grimm King?" the cyborg asked the time traveler. Re-Jaune put a thumb to his chin and hummed for a second.

"Well, of course we do. But in the meantime, we can help this world too. It will give us the time to train and prepare for what little time we have left until he attacks."

"Fine by me." Reaper said as the doors opened and they all entered. There was no doubt in any of their minds that Ozpin was absent from his office even at such a late hour.

"What if he says no?" Cyborg Jaune asked to the remainder of the group, to which Reaper and Re-Jaune chuckled.

"Don't worry so much." Reaper replied. "We don't want sparks flying again." Puppy Arc couldn't help but snicker at the recent memory. Re-Jaune wasn't able to say anything more as the doors opened, revealing Ozpins office once more.

"Excuse me, but who are all of you?" the four arcs looked over to their right to see that they weren't the only ones wanting a word with the headmaster as General Ironwood occupied the office.

"The ones we were just talking about, James." Ozpin said as Goodwitch was at his side like always. "General Ironwood, meet Jaune Arc." the general was definitely taken aback by the sudden inclusion of the blonde knights as he took a slight step back.

"Sup?" Puppy Arc said as he internally howled with laughter at the general's reaction, leaving him stunned with silence.

"Yes, the dog can talk, moving on." Re-Jaune said, ignoring the General as he continued to walk forward until he reached the front of Ozpin's desk.

"Mr. Arc," Ozpin stated as he looked at the rest that walked up to the time traveler's side. "Didn't the secretary at the bottom tell you to wait until we were done?"

"She told me, not him." Reaper spoke up. "Scaring her off wasn't an issue." Ozpin glared at the masked man who smirked back.

"I'm sorry, but we were in the middle of something." General Ironwood said, demanding his presence be known. "Whatever you have to say to Ozpin will have to wait." Cyborg Jaune looked away from the stern tone, but Reaper and Re-Jaune stayed their ground.

"Not happening, Tin Man." Reaper said without looking at him. "Something has come up that we need to address."

"And that is?" Ozpin inquired them to go on, despite Ironwood's protests.

"We want in on the tournament." Re-Jaune demanded as he leaned forward with his hands on Ozpin's desk.

"I'm sorry?" Goodwitch asked with confusion apparent in her voice.

"It isn't a riddle, Goodwitch." Reaper said with folded arms. "We want in. We have four members." they heard a slight scoff from Ironwood.

"One of you is a dog." Ironwood started. "I don't think that qualifies as a person."

"Does Penny qualify as a person?" Re-Jaune asked without a beat, to which the general froze in place. The time traveler looked away from the General and ignored the curious gazes from Ozpin Goodwitch and his team sans Reaper. Knowing he had Ironwood by the balls, all that was left was the headmaster in front of him.

"What made you decide on this decision?" Ozpin asked to the group as they all looked at each other.

"I'm just trying to help when I can." Puppy Arc said, still snickering at how Ironwood was trying to wrap his head around the very concept of a talking dog.

"Since we don't really have a way of getting home at the moment, I wanted to help as well." Cyborg Jaune said with a huff, avoiding the general's gaze.

"I was persuaded." Reaper said nothing more as he continued to look at the headmaster.

"I want to make sure the festival goes smoothly." Re-Jaune finished as he narrowed his eyes. "I also want a re-match."

The headmaster said nothing for a few moments as he remained still in his seat. The silence ate away at them all as the general was the first to crack.

"You can't be serious Ozpin. You just said that they came here yesterday. That they were the reasons the light appeared in Vale. You really think they can be trusted?"

"Pot, meet kettle." Reaper snorted as he turned to the general. "You really think Vale trusts your tin army?" The general didn't give him the satisfaction of an explicit reaction.

"My troops prevented any additional damage that occurred during the Breach." Ironwood replied. "The people of Vale have seen my troops in action."

"They were only effective cause they were caught off guard and had to rush their plans." Reaper growled as he leaned forward. "Believe me when I say that wasn't the worst that could happen."

"And what is the worst that could happen?" Goodwitch asked, reluctantly agreeing with the general's side of skepticism.

"The other half of the Fall Maiden's powers falling into the wrong hands." Re-Jaune cut in, catching every faculty member off guard, stunning them back into silence. "Yeah we know about that." Re-Jaune's hands gripped around the edges of Ozpin's desk as he glared into the wizard's eyes.

"Glynda, James, I'm going to need some time alone." Ozpin said barley through his teeth. Protest was about to erupt until both the wizard and the time traveler glared at the faculty, demanding their privacy. With reluctance in every step, Goodwitch and Ironwood made their way towards the elevator. The general glared at the four Arcs, who were more occupied with Ozpin. Once the doors closed, Ozpin leaned a bit forward.

"We know it all, Ozma." Re-Jaune said with venom dripping from his voice. "We know about the maidens, the relics, your so-called plan against your ex-wife, all of it." Re-Jaune's grip tightened, cracking the border of Ozpin's desk.

"We know your going to try and use Pyrrha as an artificial maiden, pressuring her under the guise of actually having a choice." Reaper chimed in before the headmaster had a chance to speak.

"And how do you know?" Ozpin challenged, causing Re-Jaune's teeth to creak.

"Because where I'm from, we lost!" Re-Jaune shouted, breaking off the pieces of the desk he was holding. "You had no plan and humanity got royally fucked for a second time! Beacon falls, you die again, That fall bitch kills Pyrrha, and Salem gets an edge on humanity. Ten years later, the apocalypse happens and EVERYONE DIES!" Re-Jaune was seething through his teeth as he finished with a glare that pierced through one of the people he trusted the least. He felt the sudden hand of Reaper rest on his left shoulder, allowing the time traveler to take a break.

"Given we don't have a surefire way home yet, among other problems we are dealing with, we agreed that we could help the most if we were in the tournament." Reaper said with a calm but cold voice. "Despite what happened today, a panic at the Vytal festival is the last thing any of us need and we don't want to prolong our visit here any longer than we need to. If Beacon falls, we lose our ticket home." Reaper finished as he took his turn at glaring at Ozpin.

"And if I refuse to let you all in the tournament?"

"Wouldn't be the first time you let me down." Reaper started as he leaned forward. "If you don't, you lose your chance at the Fall Maiden. We tell her you know who she is and she skips town." Reaper tilted his head and practically begged Ozpin to try him. "You let us in, we get her for you and tell you the whereabouts of the Spring Maiden." Ozpin's eyes widened at that last tidbit, though Reaper was semi bluffing. The only reason he knew about that was due to Re-Jaune's journal.

The silence returned before Reaper chuckled. "If you don't let us in, you become royally fucked. Simple as that." Reaper finished as he turned on his heel. He guided Re-Jaune with him and gestured for the others to walk with him, leaving the Headmaster to decide. "Oh, one last thing," Reaper said as the doors began to close. "We're team JSPR, led by John Arc. Might want to write that down." after his tidbit of information, the doors shut.

"That could've gone better, but I'm not one to argue with results." Reaper said with a breath. "You holding up alright?" he asked the time traveler by his side.

"I'll be fine." Re-Jaune said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You two have a lot to clarify." Cyborg Jaune interjected as he was a bit at a lost. There was no retort from the other two as Re-Jaune nodded.

"Tomorrow morning, we will." Re-Jaune said as the doors opened. "Anyways, I think I'm going to clock out and see what happens."

"Ditto." Puppy Arc agreed.

"Don't have to tell me." Cyborg Jaune said.

"Sounds like a plan." Reaper mentioned as the four made their way to their room without a feeling of worry on their minds.

(Jaune and Pyrrha, Thirty minutes prior)

"What do you think of them?" Jaune asked as he stared at the door all four of his counterparts exited from. The bandaged blonde knight had a calm smile on his face as he turned his attention towards his partner.

"Well, it's still pretty crazy to think about." Pyrrha said with a bit of a laugh. "Never did I think that four more of you would show up."

"That is the last thing I would think would happen when I was thrown into those beams." Jaune replied as Pyrrha winced at the memory.

"Well they seem nice, mostly." Pyrrha said as her assertion faltered a bit.

"Yeah, that Reaper guy rubs me the wrong way."

"Maybe he'll grow on you?"

"Hopefully. Though the rest are pretty cool."

"Most definitely." Pyrrha said with a smile. Jaune let out a yawn as he stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey Pyr, I think I'm going to clock out. I'm feeling really drained." Pyrrha nodded and made sure the covers were over his whole body.

"I'm only a call away if you need me." Pyrrha said as she started her way to the door, only to stop in her tracks as something caught her eye. She bent down next to Jaune's bed and picked up a small little book. It was worn and definitely had seen better years. She assumed that it was Johns and he must have dropped it during the pandemonium earlier. She smiled and pocketed it, leaving a mental note to give it back to him. She shut the lights off and with one more look at her dozing partner, she clicked the door behind her and couldn't help but feel curious as to what was inside the journal she carried.

* * *

 **Jeez that was a long one huh? Gotta mkae up for not updating fast enough. Hope you all enjoyed~ Read it, Review it, Fav it and follow it!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Noble: All right! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

"Crap!" The Arc screeched before colliding into the hard ground. Jaune gasped for air as his breath hitched and felt the wind get knocked out of him, His lungs burned as he struggled to get his breath back. Cyborg Arc and Re-Jaune stood to the side watching the two versions of themselves spar ready to intervene if Reaper got carried away.

"Don't be a pussy Jaune. Get your ass back up. Or are you too afraid?" Reaper mocked his counterpart. making the young Arc stumble to his feet glaring at the masked version of himself with hatred.

"Are you just gonna stand there? I don't have all day, you useless little coward." Reaper insulted Jaune once more and the Arc screamed in rage before charging the terrorist. The psychopath rolled his eyes and sidestepped his naive counterpart with ease, slamming the butt of the machete into Jaune's head. The inexperienced knight struggled to get up and was cut off by Reapers boot planting itself on the back of his head.

"And once again you let your opponent get to you Arc. You let me get inside your head and got sloppy. What I've been trying to show you for the past hour or so is that letting your emotions go unchecked in a fight can lead to you not only getting your ass kicked but also losing the fight entirely. I've been guilty of this myself and toyed with my prey when I had the chance to kill them but let my own sadistic tendencies to take over costing me my chance to end their miserable lives. The moral of this lesson Jaune is that you need to control your emotions when fighting. You can be angry in a fight, or scared, whatever. Just don't let emotions get in the way of your task.

"He's right." The two looked over to see their cyborg equivalent walk over to them.

"Emotions are much like a double-edged blade. Let them get in the way and you'll be wishing that you had controlled yourself, however, if you can harness those emotions and let them fuel your ire and will to fight then you will be a much stronger warrior."

"Ya know, just because you look like a ninja doesn't mean you gotta act like some honourable samurai fuck…you walking can opener."

"Ninjas and samurai, are two completely different warriors. Samurai fight one on one in honourable combat while the ninja is a more stealth based warrior that strikes from the shadows. You could say I'm a combination of them both. Also, you are one to talk. Mister Edgy mc-grunge lord." Reaper grumbled as he waved him off.

"Whatever ya fuckin weeb. It's your turn to beat the piss out of him." Reaper shoved past the ninja and sat down next to Re-Jaune. The cyborg shook his head and turned around to face himself.

"So, what are you going to teach me? How to get the crap kicked out of me again?"

"No. I'm going to teach you to fight without a weapon." The cyborg knocked Jaune's blade out of his hand faster than Jaune could see and next thing he knew he was on his back staring at the sky.

'Son of a bitch! How is he that fast?!' Jaune sat up and yelped, barely rolling out of the way of an axe kick from the cyborg. Dirt and grass flew across the arena from where Sparrow smashed his foot down. Jaune gaped at the small crater his cyborg equivalent just made where he was not a few seconds ago.

"What the hell?! Are you trying to kill me?!"

The cyborg looked over to him and lunged at Jaune once more forcing the Arc to try and defend himself. The knight tried futilely to block his counterparts blows but to no avail. A palm strike to the chest, side kick to the ribs and a final roundhouse to his face sent Jaune down to the ground hard. The Arc shook as he stood back up, rubbing the blood from his mouth and charged the armoured warrior. Jaune sent a jab at Sparrow's head and the cyborg countered by batting the strike aside with his palm then hooked his leg around his counterparts putting the blonde into a leglock submission hold. The knight tried to wriggle his way out but found his attempt to be useless.

"You need to be tactful when attacking someone of superior physical strength and skill. Have more restraint and don't rush in to try and overwhelm your opponent. If they know what they're doing, then you'll be defeated before the fight even begins." Sparrow untangled himself from Jaune and offered a hand. The Arc looked up with rage evident in his eyes and slapped the hand aside.

"That's easy for you to say, you're a fucking cyborg!"

"I didn't magically become a better fighter after my cybernetic implementation Jaune. I had to learn how to use this new body."

"Yeah? Well lucky you. I'm stuck being a plain old Jaune Arc whose been having his ass kicked by the three of you! I'm tired of this! Maybe I should just have my damn arms and legs amputated so that I'm stronger!" Jaune immediately regretted what he said as he was pinned to the ground in an instance, Sparrow's hand gripped around his throat in a vice grip. The Arc hit the metal arm with no effect and started to squirm his way out of his counterpart's grip.

"Do you think I got these limbs because I wanted to?! Do you really think I wanted to be this-this thing?! I didn't ask to become a living weapon! I didn't ask to be saved! All I wanted was to die! But I wake up on an operating table with these metal arms and legs stuck to my body and my guts replaced with artificial organs with the constant sound of the whir of machines resonating from this fucking body! Does that sound lucky to you!?"

"Sparrow!" he stopped as Re-Jaune glared. "That's enough." Sparrow let go of Jaune's throat and dashed away instantly, leaving the three Arcs to themselves. Re-Jaune walked over to his younger counterpart and sighed.

"Jaune, I know we've been pushing you hard, but you have to understand, you need to become as strong as quickly as possible. The Grimm King, Salem, they're all enemies that are unlike any you've faced before." Jaune nodded and rubbed his neck, standing next to his "older" brother.

"I know it's just...you're all so much better than me. I guess...I guess I just feel so insignificant compared to you all. What the hell was up with Sparrow? He went ballistic there!"

"We may be stronger Jaune, but we're still you. We all experienced things differently from you so we had to become stronger out of necessity. For me, …it was losing everyone I ever cared for. Watched as one by one they perished against Cinder and her master. The strength I gained…it came from so much pain; I'm still surprised I didn't try to blow my own brains out just to end it all..." His younger version listening silently as he processed what his older 'brother' was telling him.

"But I didn't, because one of the best things us Arcs do…is that we always get back up." He placed a hand on his shoulder as he smiled.

"You'll get stronger too Jaune, just be patient and learn from our mistakes and our pains that's all we can do for you. And as for Sparrow's outburst just now, we all have demons and it seems that his are tied to whatever forced him to become a cyborg in the first place. Maybe apologize for what you said and ask him what happened to him."

Jaune nodded and looked around for his other counterpart.

"Where the hell did Reaper go?" Re-Jaune looked around too and shrugged.

"I have no idea. He seems to like doing the batman exit huh?"

"Does he have to be so edgy?"

"Part of who he is Jaune. Let's go get some lunch and then we'll go look for Sparrow."

 **(Reaper)**

'Now where the fuck did that robot go?' Reaper thought to himself as he phased through the hallways of Beacon in search for his cyborg partner.

'All right, have to think here. If I was a pissed off version of myself at Beacon where would be the one place, I'd go to be alone?' Reaper looked up and sighed, knowing where Sparrow had gone. A few minutes later the hooded terrorist made his way to the roof and to no surprise Sparrow was sitting on the edge of it.

"Agent Sparrow, your other version doesn't understand the implications of what happened to cause your cybernetic augmentation. I suggest you take some time for yourself then explain to them all what happened and-"

"AI sleep mode activate, codeword: epsilon." The cyborg interrupted in a low voice before taking off his helmet.

"Codeword received, entering sleep mode." Sparrow sighed in frustration and looked down at his hands. A tear fell from his face and onto the metal limb, sliding off of it and onto the ground.

"What do you want Reaper?" The psychopath walked over to himself and sat down.

"Knew you'd be up here. Kind of second nature for Arcs to want to be alone after something bad happens."

"You still didn't answer my question Reaper, why are you here?"

"What do you think dipshit? Here to talk to you about that outburst back there. Come on spit it out I ain't got all fucking day." Sparrow sat silent for a moment, contemplating where to start.

"I never wanted this...this cybernetic body. I was just like you, like the rest of us when first coming to Beacon. Wanted to become a huntsman to be a hero and it was going all right. Improved by training with my team and looked like I belonged." He took a deep breath, his hands shaking.

"Then the White Fang wanted to tie up loose ends with Blake. So, they went after the weakest link out of the eight of us, me." He rested his hands on the edge of the roof, gripping it tight.

"They wanted to use me as a bargaining chip. One life for the other. The white fang interrogator tortured me for three straight days before getting fed up and messaging my team directly. The torturer's name was Ember Rot and she was the reason why I became a cyborg. That...bitch waterboarded me, cut me open, burnt my flesh and after she sent the ultimatum…she grabbed a bone saw." His hands gripped the edge of the roof tighter than before, making the concrete start to break apart. Reaper looked down and noticed the cracks starting to form.

"She cut off my legs first. Sawed them off and forced me to stay conscious through it all. Then she came for my arms...and during the entire time all she did was laugh...she laughed and laughed...and to this day I still can't get her voice out of my head." The concrete gave way as his hands crushed it to dust leaving nothing but flakes of cement in his palms.

"And if that wasn't enough...she wanted to have some pleasure too." The masked terrorist's eyes widened.

"She didn't..."

"The bitch did. Laughing and giggling more than before. She used me as a plaything and mocked me, told me to fight back. I couldn't. I couldn't kick her off, I couldn't punch her off...Fuck I couldn't do anything! That sadistic bitch used me for her own sick pleasure and after she had her fill, she got a knife and gutted me. A good portion of my internal organs needed to be replaced with artificial ones and that was it. I laid there on a table begging for whatever god there was to just let me die. All I wanted was for the pain to end and I closed my eyes waiting for the darkness to take me. Then I wake up with these limbs and felt repulsed at myself. I wasn't a man anymore...I was a machine. Hell, I couldn't even be considered human."

Sparrow sighed and rubbed his face before looking over at his counterparts, eyes tearing up. Reaper looked back and his eyes flashed. It was like staring in a mirror both figuratively and literally.

'Both of us have gone through similar hells. Can't blame the guy for wanting to hide what happened to him.'

"That's...Indescribable what happened to you. Hell, I'd say it's just as bad as what happened to me." He sighed as he shook his head. "Well…Since you told me what made you a cyborg it's only right that I tell you how I became the Reaper..."

 **(Re-Jaune)**

'Should find Sparrow and Reaper. Don't know why Reaper was the one to run after him but hopefully, he can calm sparrow down. Also, gotta have Jaune apologize for what he said, that's another thing we gotta do. Ugh, this really is like Beacon all over again for me.'

The time-traveller walked toward his dorm pondering where he and his other counterparts should do.

'Of course, we need to stop the Grimm King and Salem. No point in leaving another world to turn into a desolate wasteland. Save this world from being a hellscape like my own.'

He stopped in front of his door but turned around upon hearing another open. Pyrrha stood just five feet from John, her gaze fixed upon him almost immediately before walking towards him. The Arc swallowed hard, still not comfortable in being around his first love who was now alive and well. But as she grew closer, he began to notice the dark bags under her eyes, her unkempt hair and scared look in her emerald iris.

Pyrrha stopped in front of him and the first thing John noticed was the look of fear and sorrow in her eyes.

"Pyrrha? Is something wrong?" Pyrrha reached into her bag and pulled out a familiar book, making John's eyes widen.

"W-Where did you?"

"Why?" Her voice was hoarse as the single word made John want to crumple into a ball onto the floor. She knew. She knew everything. Silence hung in the air and the Arc breathed in deeply before opening his door and motioning her to enter. The champion walked in and turned around staring at John again, her eyes watering, begging for an answer as he shut the door behind him.

"Why…why didn't you tell me?" Her voice cracking as tears started to stream down her cheeks and drip onto the floor. John stood across his partner speechless, this being only the second time she had ever cried in front of him. "Do you not trust me?!" She screamed in a rare moment of rage.

"NO! Of course, I trust you! I trust you, Ren and Nora, more than I trust myself!"

"Then why did you lie to us?! WHY?!"

"Because I knew you'd react exactly like this! I knew you for a long time, Pyrrha and I knew how fragile you truly really are. I just wanted to protect you all from the truth!"

"So, lying was your first choice?!"

"No! Gods above no! But I didn't have a choice, to begin with! I'm not from this world and I shouldn't be interfering in the first place. But after realising what we could do here, how we could change this worlds fate, we decided we could help. But If I told you all the truth of what happened to my world…it would've broken your spirits and change this world for the worse, more than what I and the other Arcs already have. Heck, us just being here is already messing things up too much! I just…I just didn't want you to know the truth!"

"Well, I know now! I know that Cinder Fall murdered me and that's why you hate her so much! I know that everyone dies when the Grimm King comes to Remnant and you're the only one left alive! I know about Salem, the Relics, Maidens, Ozpin/Ozma what the hell his name is, EVERYTHING! ESPECIALLY WHAT I DID TO YOU!" Pyrrha screamed before placing a hand over her lips and falling to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

John stood still, distancing himself from Pyrrha and refusing to meet her gaze.

"But the thing that hurts the most, is knowing what my death does to you. I... I can't imagine how hard it was for you, how much you suffered for all those years. How much guilt and anger you must've felt...you saw everyone you've known, and love, die all around you. Your Pyrrha…she… _I_... was so selfish, shoving you into that locker and sending you away. I should've just-just listened to you and run away. I-I should've just never listened to Ozpin. I-I…" more tears and sobs escaped her form as she wept in sorrow.

John stared sadly at the broken woman before him as his heart ached. Her form shaking harder then he could ever remember. This was what he wanted to avoid, seeing her so broken again so conflicted with the decisions she made or had to make, as they broke her soul.

He slowly walked over as he kneeled before her and grasped her in his arms. She cried and wept upon his shoulder as he carefully stroked her back. "Pyrrha…I'm sorry…I'm sorry that I lied to you, that I lied to our friends. I understand what you were going through so long ago…I never meant to hurt you." He sobs became quieter as they kneeled in the floor.

"But you have to understand that there are forces at work that will stop at nothing to complete their goals. Forces that took nearly everything I had to destroy. But now they're back, and I need to face them again, and I feared what would happen if you all knew the truth. But I should've told you and I'm sorry." They parted as he brushed away her tears.

"But there is something you need to know. Something I think I should've told you long ago that might have changed your fate…I don't believe in Destiny. I don't believe that my life is a predetermined path that I must follow obediently. I believe that fate is in my hands, and no one else's. Not Ozpins…not Salem's…and not even the Gods that started all this…" he stroked back a lock of her hair.

"Somehow I made it back to change my worlds fate. The same can happen for your world as well as your own fate. Your destiny is your own choosing. Don't believe that you have to live in someone else's expectations. Live your own life how you want, not what others want." She calmed down as he reassured her. Simultaneously healing the hurt he had in his own heart.

"You should know, your Jaune knows what happens to you." She looked up startled. "He read the Journal too, and he's determined to get stronger. But strength isn't the only thing he needs. He needs you." She looked confused for a moment before he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Tell him how you feel. Don't hold back those feelings you have for him. If you do and something happens to you like…like what happened to my Pyrrha, he will fall into a pit so deep its near impossible to break out of. Trust me…I know." She looked hesitant as she rubbed her arm.

"But what if he doesn't?" he stopped her.

"Trust me, it's around this time my younger self was starting to notice you more. All it will take is just the courage to talk to him...trust me, it will be good for both of you." She hesitated then nodded as they stood back up and held the journal in her hands before handing it to John.

"So…are you going to tell the others?"

"Maybe, I need to talk to the other Jaune's about it. Reaper still has his hatred for the rest of Team RWBY, so I don't know if he is willing to co-operate with them. But I'm hoping that we can get him to see reason."

"And what about Cinder? You are you planning to do to her?" he glared at the name as he clenched his fist.

"…Whatever it takes…"

 **(Grimm King) Emerald Forest**

Dark shadows surged within the cavern of the Deathstalkers old lair as the Grimm King grunted and shifted its form. Around him were several Grimm as a dark hand grasped hold of one of the beasts and drained it of its essence. The Beast roaring in pain, while the others just obediently watched. Bone and flesh began to grow on its body, before reverting back to a shadowy mist.

"Damn…and here I was hoping to fully regenerate my new body before the Vytal festival. But it seems this worlds timeline is more advanced than I anticipated. If it were back at the beginning I would've had more than ample time to gather more hatred." He sighed as he looked at the assemble Grimm.

"For now, I will have to make do with using these worthless peons as a source. If I had more time…the hatred my old friend feels would've been more than enough to craft my new form." He slithered to the entrance and grinned as he looked to the light of Beacon Academy. "But knowing you my friend, you already have a plan stirring in that head of yours on how to defeat your opponents…" he slinked back into the shadows as a dark chuckle echoed.

"…And that is why I admire you so…"

 **Beacon Academy Rooftops**

Pyrrha walked hesitantly towards the rooftop as she practiced what she had to say. 'Jaune, ever since we met I've felt something between us. I haven't told you how I've felt because I was so afraid of rejection and-'

"Sparrow, I...I had no idea that's how you lost your limbs. I never should've said what I said to you. Can you forgive me please?"

"Yes Jaune I can forgive you. It was my own fault for not telling everyone what happened to me. I think I'm ready for everyone to know the truth."

"Now kiss. Seriously this shit is cliche as fuck."

"Thanks reaper you know just what to say to ruin a brotherhood bonding moment." Sparrow groaned before looking over at the entrance to the roof and seeing familiar crimson hair.

"If it gets this shit over quicker I'm fine with ruining it. Also, Pyrrha is over at the door waiting to talk to you Arc. The two of us will give you some privacy, cmon rustbucket." Reaper phased past Pyrrha and sparrow dashed past her giving a thumbs up. The champion blinked and shook her head before walking over to Jaune.

"Ya know Pyr...when you first offered me to train up here I thought it was out of pity because you knew I was a loser. That I was weak" He turned to her and smiled brightly before continuing.

"Then after the Ursa fight, I knew the truth. You cared about me. You wanted me to become better so that I could protect myself better and others as well." His hands landed on her shoulders and felt his eyes start to water.

"I was so blind with ignorance chasing after Weiss that I didn't realize the one that I needed was right next to me the entire time." Pyrrha's breathed hitched as their lips made contact. His felt soft and warm, like a comfortable pillow and She stood frozen in shock trying to process what was happening. The champion closed her eyes and lost herself in the kiss, cradling his head tight with both arms wrapped around his shoulders, refusing to let his lips leave hers.

'He finally noticed me.' She thought to herself as tears of joy dripped down her face.

 **(Bonus part! Puppy Arc adventures)**

The yellow Puffball that was Jaune Arc trotted through the hallways of Beacon, on the lookout for Cinder and her posse. His assignment was one of utmost importance, survey and recon the three tangos and report any information back to high commander butt naked Arc! It was a dangerous task, a suicidal one! But he was the best, hours of playing Titanium Gear Solid prepared him for this precise moment. He rounded the corner of the hall with as much grace a stubby-legged pup could muster and tried to combat roll, only to fall flat on his scruff sliding into someone's leg.

"What in the?! Oh...oh it's just a cute puppy." Velvet sighed in relief before picking up the yellow runt.

"He's a cute little bugger! Yes, you are!" Coco broke her cool persona and ogled the pup with coos and caws. Puppy Arc gobbled it up and turned over exposing his bare belly for scratching.

'I'll let these two scratch me to their heart's content. Even though in my world they almost ground me into puppy chow! Seriously who thinks a Grimm could get into Beacon?!'

"Make way young students! I don't seem to have this Beowolf under as much control as I thought!" Peter Port hollered as he clocked the Alpha Bewolf across the snout, still stuck between its teeth as aura flared across his body.

"Feel my fists of fury damn you!" Peter bellowed and sent his patented Port haymaker into the beasts eyeball. It howled in pain spitting the large huntsman out of its jaws and growling at him with fierce red eyes.

"Now Greg, do as your master says and come back with me to your cage! You're essential to my class tomorrow! Now cmon! Be a good murdering Beowolf and listen!"

The Alpha answered by smashing the older Huntsman through a wall and roaring once more.

"Uh, Coco can you handle this one?"

"Nope. Just got a pedicure and I am not ruining my nails.

"Seriously?! Coco, I don't have my weapon! You could kill it without any trouble!"

"Not happening Bun Bun. Just let Port deal with it, he obviously wants it alive so let's take little Mocha here with us back to the dorm."

'Mocha?! Oh hell no! I ain't being named after a frozen coffee drink!' Puppy Arc squirmed out of Velvets arms and sprinted toward the Beowolf barking up a storm.

"No, you little fuzzball! Don't go near that thing!"

Jaune growled viciously at the Grimm in front of him unwavering and fearless in the face of such danger. He poured aura into his legs and Jaw, pouncing at the neck of the great beast. He landed on the ground a second later, the Beowolf's bloody head cradled in his jaw and it's torso falling behind him in a mighty crash. He pranced over to Port who was stepping out of the wall and spit the dead Grimms head at his feet, wagging his tail panting with pride.

"HAHA! Magnificient! I truly never thought I'd find a companion worthy of my strength but I have!" Port picked up Jaune with admiration and awe in his voice.

"I shall name you Hercules! I need help teaching a class tomorrow, what do you say I give you plenty of bacon as compensation and teach some foolish students of mine what it's like to fight something more powerful than a measly Beowolf eh?"

*Bark!*

"Excellent! Now, we must leave quickly before Glynda comes! To bed my worthy companion!" Port charged away from the destruction he and the Beowolf caused leaving the two huntresses in training completely stunned and dumbstruck at what they just witnessed.

"Vel?"

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna be completely honest with you. I have no idea what the fuck I just witnessed."

"You and me both."

* * *

 **Sorry for the lack of updates. Let's just say I've gone through two really bad months in March and April. My girlfriend of almost two years broke up with me two weeks ago so I'm not in the best state of mind. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review, follow and Fav if you like it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Noble: Guess who's back mofos! Finished my boot camp, kicked it's ass and now I'm at my school training for my job so updates can happen once more! Now, I'm gonna be a bit rusty so if there's spelling erros and the what not I gotta get my groove back. It's good to be back! And holy crap this story has officially become my most favorited and followed! Thank you all so much! Read and Review!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

Silence. That's all that Re-Jaune could process as he stared over the barren wasteland that was the destroyed remains of Beacon. He stumbled forward, shaking his head in disbelief.

"No...no not again."

The time traveler fell to his knees, ash and dust billowed upward matting itself in the broken knight's hair, his fist crashed into the ground leaving a small crater from where it impacted. He looked up face twisted in utter agony, tears streaming down his cheeks gazing over his fallen counterparts. Reaper, impaled by an innumerable amount of spears holding him down and forcing the dead man to feel every ounce of pain coursing through his body, being too exhausted to phase. Puppy Arc, covered in soot, blood and ash, whimpered over a scorched coronet, trying to lick it clean while begging for Pyrrha to come back. The Jaune of this timeline run through with Crocea Mors, his eyes lifeless and empty.

"Well old friend...How does it feel?" The Grimm King chuckled, gripping sparrow in one hand the cyborg barely alive with his visor cracked and body barely lighting up, stalked toward his chosen foe.

"You try so desperately to stop me, only to fail once more." He stood a small distance from Re-Jaune, still choking the cyborg without care.

"I ask you, Jaune Arc, what made you believe that this time would be any different?" The monster held Cyborg Jaune up to his level, still glaring at Re-Jaune with nothing but a smile.

"That having a few different versions of yourself would stop me? No...No old friend. You know how this ends. You've always known." His hand tightened around Sparrow's throat, cutting off his breathing. The cyborg futilely tried to resist, smashing what was left of his arm into the Grimm King's jaw. The deathbringer didn't move an inch, continuing to taunt his old nemesis.

"This doesn't end with one final effort from humanity. This doesn't end with your friends helping you futilely delay the inevitable. It ends, with you and I tearing each other apart over a death-laden wasteland!" With one final wrench, he crunched Sparrow's throat and shattered the cyborg's helmet, letting Re-Jaune see his own lifeless face fall to the ground in a heap.

Jaune looked up at the Grimm King, rage burning in his eyes as the dust started to rise.

"Yes...that's what I love to see...Your face twisted in utter despair and falling to rage as you try to destroy me!"

Jaune roared and lunged toward the Grimm King-

Gasp*

Re-Jaune woke and sat up instantly, breathing hard, looking around the room. Sparrow was sleeping across from him with Puppy Arc curled upon his metal chest, kicking his hind leg unconsciously while he slept. Reaper was out like a light, grumbling in his sleep about revenge or something.

'That...was too realistic...Fuck!' Re-Jaune cursed shaking his head.

'I swear to Oum...I will not let that bastard win. I WILL kill him...' The time traveler vowed before falling back asleep. What he didn't notice, were two red eyes gazing through the window.

'Our battle is inevitable Jaune Arc. One way or another we are destined to fight one another over a dead world and there is nothing you can do to stop it.' The Grimm King smiled before disappearing.

 **(Lunch, Beacon cafeteria)**

"And then, I grabbed my hammer and shoved it up the ursa's-"

"OK! We don't need to hear the end to that one Nora! Moving on!" Jaune ordered quickly trying to change the subject.

"If we're moving on then why don't you tell us the juicy details vomit boy. When did you and cereal girl finally confess?"

Jaune choked on his orange juice, trying to regain his composure. Thankfully, Pyrrha answered for him.

"It was Thursday night on the rooftop where we always trained. Jaune was the one to confess first and kiss me." The champion smiled brightly, winking at her boyfriend.

"Nice job Vomit boy! Props for taking initiative! We should celebrate tonight with a night on the town!"

"Wait, you want us to go clubbing?" Nora interjected.

"Hell yes! We can go to Juniors, he knows not to mess with me so we'll get in no problem."

"I wouldn't mind getting out and doing something. But it'd be kinda hard being incognito with my cybernetics and me being Jaune as well."

"Ah Sparrow, you underestimate us. All we need is semi-baggy jeans, a big sweatshirt and say that the three of you are triplets." Yang winked at him and Sparrow shook his head.

"I think it'd be a good idea to let off some steam. Kick back and have a good time. I'll convince Reaper to come." Re-Jaune spoke up.

"And how are you gonna do that?" Puppy Arc gave Re-Jaune a curious stare.

"I got a few ideas." Re-Jaune smirked before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria.

 **(That Night, Junior's bar)**

"This...disguise...is...shit." Reaper growled shoving his hands into his pockets. The psychopath was dressed in black cargo pants, a hoodie with his mask still on and fingerless gloves. He couldn't help but grumble at the beanie that sat atop his head like a soft tumor. He preferred the hood, but Ruby kept going on about him stealing her thing.

"You think yours is bad? This shirt doesn't cover up the lights across my body!" Sparrow gritted his teeth in frustration, looking down freely due to the lack of a helmet, at the short sleeve shirt he was given the lights across his body glowed through the garment. He wore baggy tan combat pants along with the shirt, Weiss commenting that cybernetic arms weren't all that uncommon so them being shown wouldn't raise suspicion. "This thing is too tight around my shoulder joints. They just keep getting caught up in it!"

"Quit your complaining ya bucket of bolts! Time Traveler's Husband over there tricked me and told me that we were going to Juniors to torture him for more info. Said we were gonna wear casual clothes to blend in but that was a fucking lie!" Reaper glared at his time traveling counterpart who just waved with a smug ass smile across his face.

"I can't believe you fell for it so easily. You're usually mister analytical. Besides, we all need a break from the serious stuff and just cut loose. Buck up Reaper, gotta relax a bit." Re-Jaune said with a shit-eating grin.

"I'll relax when all my enemies are six feet under in a coffin." Reaper scoffed, crossing his arms while glaring at the back of Weiss, Blake, and Yang's heads.

"Alright enough edgy talk and arguing! We're here for a casual night of fun and dancing! So, Mr. Reaper, I don't care how much you don't like it you're here so stop complaining!" Ruby pointed a finger up at Reaper. "Would it kill you to relax?"

Reaper broke his gaze away from his targets and gave the Rose a tired look before sighing in defeat.

"I'm getting wasted and that is it. I left the dancing crap behind." The terrorist kicked the front doors open, smashing the two bouncers who were standing watch against the wall and embedding them both in it. Reaper looked at the two goons and shrugged, walking towards the bar.

"They'll live, probably have a bunch of broken bones but they're young, they'll heal. Where's that hunter proof whiskey at?" Reaper strolled to the bar and took a seat, waving the bartender over. Junior turned around and immediately fell backward, trying to say something but nothing came, his throat still being damaged from when Reaper almost beat him to death a week ago.

"Told you the disguise wouldn't work." Reaper glared at Re-Jaune.

"Maybe you should have taken off the mask?" the time traveler retorted. He only received a blank stare from the terrorist and could feel his eyebrow raising.

"Depends, do you want this club to be vacant for weeks?" There was no time to respond to Reaper as he looked down at the cowering man. "So Junior, I take it your memory is still up to date?" The bartender nodded feverishly. "Good good. That means you'll be giving me booze on the house tonight or we'll continue where we left off, am I clear?"

Junior nodded rapidly once more, agreeing to the terms of Reaper's ultimatum and immediately started pouring shots of hunter proof whiskey.

"No, just the bottle." Reaper growled and took the whiskey. He tilted his mask up just a bit, much to everyone's curiosity, and started to drink. After a few seconds, his degrading lips parted from the rim of the bottle. Red eyes widening after a few moments.

"Now that's good," he sighed in content while tilting his mask back down. "Congratulations, Junior. If you keep these coming, and I just may pay for your medical bills." Junior couldn't do anything but nod in fear before he went to retrieve more stock.

"Pass it over." Sparrow walked up to the bar and sat next to his counterpart with his hand open, ready for his turn.

"Be my guest. Be careful, the clothes aren't flame retardant." Reaper said.

Sparrow glared at his masked counterpart for a few moments. The silence between them broke with a stifle from Reaper and the two began to chuckle a bit at the memory.

"When did those two become friends? I thought edgy Jaune didn't like anyone?" Nora tapped her chin in confusion.

"Perhaps they found a mutual understanding." Ren chimed in being just as clueless as his partner.

The group sat down in an extra-large booth, Jaune sitting on the edge and patting the seat next to him for Pyrrha to sit down. The champion made her way over but decided to sit somewhere else, namely right on her boyfriend's lap. The young Arc immediately went red and felt something start to grow between his legs at a rapid pace, threatening to make contact with Pyrrha's inner thigh.

'Down boy! Now is not the time!' Jaune ordered his manhood but to no avail. Pyrrha felt something poking her thigh and she went red but put on a saucy poker face, looking back at her partner seductively.

The champion winked and the Arc could only stutter in disbelief. Pyrrha internally cheered, the lessons Yang gave her paid off! She looked over at Yang who was giving her a thumbs up with a devilish grin plastered across her face. The blonde brawler scooched closer to Re-Jaune who was wearing a tight black shirt, showing off his broad chest and broad shoulders. He didn't notice Yang until her arm draped across his shoulders.

"Gotta say vomit boy, you're looking damn fine in that outfit we got for you." She squeezed his right bicep muscle, feeling just how hard and toned the limb was. Re-Jaune could only open an close his mouth like a fish, words refusing to come out as a deep blush spread over his face.

"You really are all the same person." Weiss said while rubbing the left side of her temple.

"I still have my doubts about Reaper," Blake commented before looking over her shoulder. "I mean Sparrow also wears a mask, but at least he acts somewhat like Jaune, but Reaper…"

"I have no doubts." Nora chimed in with a puffed-out chest. "All of you said you came from a bright light that happened because of Jaune flying into a giant laser beam, so that means all of you have to be Jaune, or a Jaune at least."

Both Jaune's at the table had to resist scratching the back of their heads, knowing that wasn't entirely the case.

"Yeah," Re-Jaune said with a fake smile. "You definitely have a point there, Nora."

"Not to mention, if you get past his scratchy voice, he does sound a bit like Jaune," Ruby said. "But other than that, I can see why we would have doubts."

Re-Jaune noticed the red hooded huntress look down while biting the tip of her thumb. Perhaps she was worried about any iteration of her friend? It would explain the worried glances she gave her fellow reaper periodically when they would be in the same place.

"Well, besides him, we assure you we are at least in some ways, the same Jaune Arc."

"Oh really," Yang purred in response to Re-Jaune's declaration. "Care to explain? What is the absolute one thing that you all have in common? Despite every little difference."

Re-Jaune's gaze shifted with a grim persona as he looked to his side and then down, towards each Jaune. For some reason, all the Jaune's nodded in unison.

Without a second to waste, Sparrow and Reaper shot up from their slumped spots and made there way over to the table, almost in a trance with how synchronized their walking was. Puppy Arc also shot up from underneath Re-Jaune's shirt, resting his neck against the opening of his counterpart's collar. All of them had a blank stare aimed at Yang.

"Um, guys?" Jaune said with a quivering voice, knowing all too well what that gaze meant.

"The Noodle Incident." Every Jaune that wasn't the original said in perfect unison. A sharp jolt scrambled down Jaune's back at those dreaded words, and soon came the memories, the horrible memories.

"What?" Pyrrha asked, confused beyond belief.

"THEY'RE ALL ME!" Jaune shouted quickly and snatched the whiskey bottle from Reaper's misty hand. "IT'S CONFIRMED! MOVING ON!" as soon as the words left his mouth, he downed the rest of the bottle with a few massive gulps.

"Uh, Jaune?" Puppy Arc said with concern. "I don't think that was a good idea."

"Yes, it was!" Jaune said with a concerning smile. "I mean it doesn't matter. I was framed! We were framed! That horrible day had nothing to do with any-oh shit." Jaune caught everyone off guard as his eyes rolled up and his head slammed onto the table with a loud bang.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaimed before getting off his lap. "Are you okay?"

Reaper walked behind the booth they were at and lifted the blonde knight by his yellow mop of hair. "He's a lightweight. It's not surprising." The terrorist let go of Jaune's hair and his head banged on the table once more. Everyone winced at the sharp sound Jaune's forehead made.

"He'll be fine, but the hangover will be a bitch. Just be thankful that he probably won't touch the stuff ever again. Speaking of more booze, JUNIOR!" Reaper barked before making his way back to the bar with Sparrow.

The rest of the students could barely process what had just happened. Pyrrha opened her mouth to speak, but Jaune's right hand was sluggishly raised whilst his head was face down. "Ws framed." Was all he said before light snoring could be heard from him.

"Heh." Pyrrha let out a small noise.

Re-Jaune looked to his former partner her eyes were clamped shut and her fist covered her mouth. Despite her best efforts, the time traveler noticed that her shoulders were bouncing up and down almost uncontrollably.

"HehehehehahahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Pyrrha said as her fist lowered and soon erupted with laughter. Joyful tears began to leak down her face as she placed her left hand on Jaune's back. "I just- he just- HAHAHAHA!"

Needless to say, Re-Jaune couldn't comprehend the amount of overflowing joy coming from Pyrrha. During his time with his Pyrrha, he had never seen her like this. Not ever. She was always composed, but let the occasional giggle slide through. Most of the time, it was just a kind smile and reassuring words. This, was something new altogether.

He couldn't help but smile with complete adoration, yet his heart was practically on fire, fueled by a new source of determination.

'Never again.' Jaune thought as he looked at Pyrrha in a fit of hysterical laughter, etching her smile in his memory. 'Never again.'

He took a swig from his drink and continued to listen to his friend,s antics. He couldn't tell how much time had past, but a familiar furball nibbled for his attention.

"Psst! John! Psst!"

Re-Jaune looked under the table and stared down at Puppy Arc who was wobbling back and forth anxiously in his lap. Something was wrong.

"What up, Pup?"

The dog rolled his eyes, "At the bar, sitting next to Sparrow and Reaper! Isn't she familiar?!" Re-Jaune's decided it was best to sate his friend's anxiety and aimed his sight onto the bar, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of Neo sipping on her own drink.

Re-Jaune almost shot up from his seat, expecting to see a fight starting to break out between the three of them but blinked multiple times and rubbed his eyes, trying to understand what he was looking at. Neo was casually drinking with the cyborg and psychopath, who were both laughing and bobbing their heads to the familiar music.

"Looks like Jaune isn't the only lightweight."

"C'mon Sparkaay!" Reaper cheered. "WE GOT THIS!" The two went along with the music that was playing in the background, taping their finger drumsticks on the bar.

"Oh Gods, please no." Re-Jaune said while scrunching his shoulders. Tonight, was a mistake.

"I BLESS THE RAIIIIINS DOWN IN VAAAAAAACUOOOOOO!"

"I BLESS THE RAINS!"

'Team JSPR was a mistake.' Re-Jaune thought as he thumped his head on the table, matching the blonde mop of hair with his original counterpart.

"Hey, not bad with the pitch!" Reaper shouted while patting Sparrow on the back. "Those pipes real or fake as well?"

"I dunno meself." Sparrow slurred as he felt his head grow heavy. Small rapid clapping could be heard as the two looked at Neo who had a toothy grin across her face.

"See? You got a fan!" Reaper reassured while Sparrow couldn't tell if he was blushing or flush from the alcohol.

"Something tells me she's got hidden motives." Sparrow said. He looked up and widened his eyes in order to get out his sluggish state, only for his heavy head to fall on one side or the other.

"Please, Oz- our boss has got her covered." Reaper said while taking another swig. "I swear if it wasn't for Sombra, I would have just gone on a manhunt for his head, I dunno."

"Sombra?"

"You would never get along with her." Reaper deadpanned. "Hacker and robotic bodies don't mix well, unless you're into being controlled like that."

Sparrow only sloppily shivered at the thought.

"But yeah, as bad as whatever her motives are, we haven't seen shit yet." Reaper said. He looked to Neo and noticed her pointing at herself with a roll of her eyes.

"Boss sucks too?" Reaper said sloppily, egging her on, not letting it slide that he knew about Cinder. He took another gulp from the bottle, finishing it and waving for another. Neo rolled her eyes and nodded exasperatedly, talking with her hands.

"I got this." Sparrow said as he looked on at her hands, translating for her so Reaper could understand what the small mute was saying.

"She-*hiccup* said that you don't know *hiccup* the half of it. Says that she acts all highs and mighty! Wishes that she could find a way to get rid of her so *hiccup her and her friend can go back to just petty thieving. She's sayings that her boss sucks a bunch of asses. That about right magical ice cream woman?"

Neo nodded and smiled maliciously, but shaking her head and correcting her motions.

"Oh. Not asses." Sparrow said. "I think she saying…"

"I'm good." Reaper said, covering the mouth of Sparrow, "Let's not have those images in our heads."

Neo couldn't help but silently laugh.

Sparrow took another swig and passed the bottle to the small thief, despite her small size Neo put away the booze like a pro staring at the duo with hunger in her eyes. She sighed silently and started talking again, the cyborg nodding along intently.

"She's asking what are we into?" Sparrow said and Reaper whipped his head towards Neo.

"Blue." was all reaper said before grabbing another bottle behind the counter.

Neo looked at him for a few moments with a raised eyebrow. The thief shrugged her shoulders and let out a breath. Before Sparrow could slur any words together, her hair changed from her multicolored scheme to a royal blue.

"wow." Sparrow muttered and leaned toward Reaper. "I didn't know you liked blue hair." he gestured to Neo "I didn't know you had blue hair."

"No, blue skin." Reaper clarified with another swig. Both the thief and the Cyborg looked at him before Sparrow felt a tap on his shoulder and read Neo's signing.

"She's saying she didn't know you were into dead chicks?" Sparrow asked with a bit of confusion, causing Reaper to spew the whiskey in his mouth, all over Junior.

"NOOO!" Reaper shouted. "I- it- no." he took a breath. "There's someone I know. She's kinda like me but with blue skin. That's what I like." Neo nodded with realization. "And I'm not interested in seeing that look on you."

"She's pouting." Sparrow said.

"I need that translated?" Reaper asked

Her pouting didn't last long as she soon smiled and trailed a finger up and down Sparrow's metallic chest, raising a sultry eyebrow at the cyborg.

"Huh? Wait. I… Oooohhh...Wait, I have a girlfriend tho! I have to stay faithful!"

"What's your *BURP!* girlfriends name robo dude?"

"My girlfriend is...Pyra! ANd I am a faithful...uh...fellow!"

"You...didn't even say her...name right, dumbass. Keep slurring your words."

"It's talking in cursive and it is fucking eloquent." Sparrow retorted.

"Its not as she'd ever know! you're in another dimension!"

"True! But itz the principle!"

"Just give the ice cream themed midget woman what she want mans!"

Neo nodded in agreement looking up at the cyborg with excitement. The cyborg got off his stool, almost faceplanting but managing to catch himself. Neo was about to grab onto his arm and lead him away but a voice interrupted her antics.

"Ok! That's enough drinking for you two fellas!" Re-Jaune sounded off, walking over to the odd group and wrapping his arm around his cyborg counterpart.

"But we're having so much fun."

"You'll be thanking me tomorrow for two reasons." Re-Jaune said, ignoring the silent protests of Neo. "I'm pretty sure that parasol has more purposes than just two." Sparrow and Reaper grew silent and pale at the creative thoughts that conjured in their heads. The mute pouted once more and sighed in defeat, still gazing at the two men that caught her eye. She motioned with her hands one last time towards them both before disappearing.

"Thank yous me...Saved my metal ass!"

"If only she was really blue."

"Anytime. Now let's sit you two down and get some water." Re-Jaune led Sparrow over to the table and immediately set down their glasses. The cyborg nodded in thanks and grabbed the glass but unfortunately due to his senses being dulled he shattered the cup spilling water everywhere.

"Ah fuck..." Sparrow grumbled and glared at his hand with discontent.

Reaper couldn't help but laugh.

"Stupid...fucking robotic...hands..." He grumbled to himself so no one could hear.

Blake, on the other hand, heard what he said about himself and looked at her friend with a sad gaze.

"I'm gonna go take a leak...hopefully I don't fuck up anything else." Sparrow cursed at himself and lurched forward out of the booth walking towards the bathroom still struggling not to trip over himself.

"You got this champ! Don't go shattering what's important!" Reaper cheered. Only receiving blank stares from everyone who was still conscious. "What?"

"I'll go make sure he stays upright and doesn't fall asleep on the toilet!" Puppy Arc announced and trotted side by side with his robot friend. Everyone watched as the duo walked away, Blake stared longingly at the sorrowful cyborg.

Sparrow made his way toward the bathroom, trying his best not to stumble into people and noticing that his canine counterpart was trotting alongside him. He looked back up and collided with someone, knocking them to the ground in a heap.

"Oh shit...I'm really sorry about that...Please let me help-" He immediately cut himself off, mind racing a million miles a minute at who was laying on the ground before him.

"Watch where you're going! You're lucky I don't cut you into little pieces!"

Sparrow could feel a literal jolt surge through him.

The woman who had haunted the cyborg's dreams for the past year, the woman who stole his humanity, the woman who took away his limbs stood before him fuming with anger. Ember Rot, the sadistic white fang fox faunus who cut off his limbs and used him as a plaything. Sparrow froze in both disbelief and rage, that she was a part of this dimension just like his.

"What are you glaring at human? Got a kink for Furries?" She growled lowly and pulled out a serrated knife, the same knife that pierced his flesh so long ago. Jaune immediately grabbed her wrist and wrenched the blade from the wretched woman's hand. The faunus yelped in pain, clawing at the metal hand that was threatening to snap her arm in two.

"You..." Sparrow hissed and squeezed even harder, forcing the psychopath onto her knees. He on the other hand, was starting to see spots of red fill his vision.

"You took everything from me." The cyborg growled and felt the bone shatter in his hand. Her arm flopped around like a gasping fish, the limb completely destroyed from the sheer power behind the cyborg's grip.

"GAHHH! You fucking bastard! I don't even know who you are!" She screeched in pain and horror, still trying to wrench her arm away from the Arc.

"You will. The White Fang will" Sparrow pulled out three shurikens and leveled them with the torturers head, intent on ending her life.

"Sparrow! Stop man! She didn't do anything!" Puppy Arc leaped onto his arm and chomped down on it, futilely trying to stop the cyborg from murdering the woman.

"Yet…" Sparrow felt a hand on his shoulder. His narrow gaze was aimed at Re-Jaune who had quickly made his way to the cyborg.

"Sparrow...put down the weapons...this isn't the place. This isn't your place."

"John...Let go...and let me end her..."

" We've already screwed up this place as it is."

"Jaune's here. If she sees him…" The red spots in his vision grew as did his rage "I'm not letting it happen again. I'm killing her right here! RIGHT NOW!"

Sparrow slammed his leg into Re-Jaune's side, shocking the arc and sending him flying across the room. His gaze came back to his torturer who looked up at him with eyes full of terror, begging for mercy. The cyborg reared his arm back and slammed the three-blades right into the terrorist's skull. Her screams went unheard from Sparrow, who's mind went blank, thinking only of killing the infernal woman as painfully as possible. He twisted his weapons to the side, making the faunus screech once more before finally going silent and arms going limp. Sparrow pulled his blades from the corpse with a sickening squelch, shirt covered in blood and Junior's goons starting to surround him.

The cyborg readied himself and waited for the criminals to attack, intent on killing them all brandishing more shurikens ready to fight.

"And I thought I was the one who got his hands dirty. I'd be lying if I said I was shocked you killed her. It feel good?" Reaper's presence alone made the bouncers back off, looking at their boss who was going nuts waving them to leave the two men be.

"Feeling good or not," Re-Jaune growled as he motioned to everyone who witnessed the gory rage of the cyborg, "We're screwed. In so many ways."

Reaper and Sparrow looked up and noticed the mortified looks of their teammates and could tell this was not going to end well.

* * *

 **And of course you all know I'm back lol. Updates will return of course but they may be a bit inconsistent. The job that I chose is a good one but requires a lot of studying so I'll do my best to get updates out and the whatnot. No worries tho! I'll make sure to try and update every week!**


	10. Chapter10

**Noble: Here's another chap, emotion heavy, complicated conversations and moral questions.**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

Junior's men immediately got to work cleaning up the blood splattered all across the floor, the civilians clearing out and by the door was a single goon handing out lien to each partygoer to keep their mouths shut about the incident. Every once and awhile, someone would sneak a glance at the ones responsible for ruining their night. The glares they received from the masked man and the older looking blonde made quickened their haste towards the nearest exit.

Sparrow stood over the corpse of his torturer, shuriken at the ready as if the faunus would open it's eyes once more to try and kill him.

"They're gonna grill you Sparks...you know that right?" Reaper said.

Sparrow nodded with a sigh. "I know...They don't know what she is...what she was."

"Wasn't just talking about RWBY," Reaper said before gesturing to Re-Jaune and Puppy, who were too busy dealing with the mess on their hands. "Our job is to get home. Nothing more and nothing less. Everything we do will most likely make things worse for this world's Jaune."

"Didn't you just torture Junior not too long ago?"

"Never said I was perfect," Reaper said with a shrug. "Also, it was to get info on how we got here. It wasn't personal," he pointed down at the corpse. "This was."

Sparrow looked away for a moment with a grumble, yet he retained his glare on the corpse in front of him.

"I would kill this bitch again. I don't care what they think, she would've done the same thing to Jaune as she did to me."

"We don't know that."

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?!" Sparrow strode up to Reaper and got in his face. "HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE WASN'T GOING TO DO TO JAUNE WHAT SHE DID TO ME?!"

Reaper folded his arms and raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. "Weiss, Blake, and Yang haven't done anything to him yet."

"That's diff-!" Sparrow felt himself being yanked toward Reaper, the cyborg giving his counterpart a fierce glare.

"Don't you fucking finish that sentence," Reaper said. "It's exactly the same. You just acted on it."

Junior's coughing severed all tension as the two Jaunes looked away from their confrontation and at the bartender who was struggling to speak.

"This won't be too hard to spin it to the media. No one got a good look at your face because of the lighting and she's a known member of the White Fang. I'll say an anonymous huntsman stepped in and was forced to take her out after she pulled a knife on a civilian. This is the last favor I'm ever doing for you. Paying off everyone who saw it cost a lot. We're even now got it?"

Reaper shrugged and nodded in agreement, holding out his hand and Junior took it.

"Now get the fuck out of my club." The large man walked away and immediately pulled out his scroll calling the police to report the incident.

Reaper glared at the cyborg before he turned on his heel and headed towards the exit. Sparrow caught up to his pace and walked with him in silence. The cyborg let the words of his counterpart sink in just a bit as they were greeted by the brisk night air. His thoughts returned to a more satisfied mindset however, as the image of his tormentor's corpse infiltrated his mind.

The duo met up with their group and was met with stillness, Re-Jaune shaking his head in disappointment. He clutched his shoulder from being kicked through one of the pillars in the club. Puppy looked fearful of his counterparts, not sure what to say in order to help their situation, and Jaune was still passed out from the alcohol. All the other Jaunes were grateful he didn't have to witness that.

The ride back to Beacon was shrouded in silence, no one uttered a word, but that didn't stop glances or glares to be sent in the cyborg's direction. Sparrow was silent as well, only having the soft humming of his mechanical body to occupy his ears while he sat away, far from everyone else.

The silence followed the group all the way to their dorm rooms, each Jaune internally dreading what was coming. Once they made it to the doors their respective dorms, Puppy looked at Re-Jaune to address the goliath in the room, knowing it was only a matter of time. The time traveler sighed with exhaustion evident in his voice.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow. Don't want to make a bunch of noise arguing-"

"No this needs to be addressed now!" Ruby called out in a rare burst of anger with tears edging out of the corner of her eyes glaring at the cyborg. Sparrow flinched and looked away from his dear friend, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Ruby...please. Right now is not the time for this. I understand how you feel, but everyone is tired and we don't want to make another scene." Re-Jaune said.

"Well when is the right time?!" Ruby demanded to know.

Re-Jaune looked back to Sparrow, who refused to meet his gaze. "We don't know. Night everyone." Re-Jaune said without any room for objection as he and the rest of his team entered their room, slamming the door behind them.

The four Jaune's walked into their room heading straight to their beds for a much-needed rest.

"Sparrow...I just have one question before we go to sleep...Was that woman the reason why you became a cyborg?" Re-Jaune asked.

Silence hung in the air until Sparrow finally looked down.

"Yes."

"That's all I wanted to hear. Have a good night."

Sparrow nodded and rolled over, puppy Arc jumped on the cyborg's bed and curled up on his chest like usual, yawning before finally falling asleep as well. Re-Jaune sighed and rubbed his face tiredly.

"Tomorrow is gonna be a rough day." Reaper said.

Re-Jaune looked up to see Reaper sitting at the foot of his respective bed. "It really is."

"Do they know?"

Re-Jaune looked at Reaper with confusion. "Know what?"

"That despite all of us being Jaune Arc, we aren't the same."

"I don't know, Reaper." Re-Jaune said shaking his head. "Go get some sleep. You're going to need it."

"Do you think they even care?" Reaper asked.

Re-Jaune said nothing, not knowing if they did or not. All he did was roll over and let the question sit within him before succumbing to his exhaustion.

 **(Deathstalkers cave)**

Another Grimm screeched in pain as the life force was drained away and funneled into the form of the Grimm King. He sighed in disappointment, his form barely shifting before it dissipated back into mist. **"Not good enough."** The Doom bringer sighed and motioned another Grimm to step forward. He reached his hand out to drain the essence of the beast, eyes filled with bored disappointment.

 **"These Grimm serve their purpose as sustenance, but they are not enough to sustain my form. I need more anger, more rage,"** a small smirk appeared across his thin face. **"He is the only one that can help me complete my final form."** the smile disappeared as he sighed and grabbed another Grimm. **"At this rate I won't have enough time to be restored before the Vytal Festival. If only I was back ten years prior…!"**

Before he could make another fruitless attempt, he lurched forward as if someone or something sent a shockwave through his entire being. Before he could question the sudden surge of energy, a feeling of pure unbridled rage and hatred coursed through his misty form, giving him a remnant of solidity.

 **"Delicious,"** He smiled and looked down at his form, it had become more whole. Bone armor weaved its way around his still mist body. He ignored the intangible tingle and focused more on the rage that coursed through him, smiling all the while as he thought of a brilliant plan. **"Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner."** a soft chuckle escaped his misty lips. **"Be prepared, for only you, Jaune Arc can sate my appetite...Only you."**

 **(The next day, outside of Vale)**

"Adam! Sir! I just received urgent news!" a white fang messenger said between breaths as he waited for his wind to come back.

"Report."

"Sir, our sister in arms Ember Rot was murdered last night by an unknown party. She was at the club owned by Junior Xiong scouting out whether or not those Beacon students you ordered to find were there. We received her last report saying that two teams were indeed at the club and that the traitor Blake Belladonna was among them."

Adam shook his head and rested his hand on his face with a tired sigh.

"That is very unfortunate news. She was a true member of the White Fang and a dear comrade. With her death, our plan to recover and capture Belladonna has been thwarted...For now at least. We'll have to rethink our strategy in that regard. Any word on who killed her so that we may enact vengeance for our comrade?"

The messenger nodded as he pulled out his scroll.

"The only information we found out was that according to the police report for her death, an anonymous huntsman stepped in after Rot pulled a knife on someone. So, it's not so crazy to imagine that Belladonna or her team might've stepped in. Although, I doubt any of them were responsible for what happened. They're all freshmen at Beacon, naive, rash, and inexperienced. From what little info I was able to gather from witnesses that were there, was that her killer was a male huntsman who seemed to have robotic limbs. That was all that I could gather. Apologies Adam."

The bull Faunus tapped his mask, contemplating on their next move.

"Send word to our undercover agents in Vale to be on the lookout for male huntsman with robotic limbs. As soon as we have someone who fits that description, I want his every move monitored. Where he sleeps, where he eats, who he hangs out with. Everything."

"Yes sir!"

#

The morning dew trickled down the sides of Sparrow's feet as he stood tall at the Beacon cliffs. The sunrise was beautiful to say the least and the silence was worlds better than what was in store for him if he remained at the academy.

He brandished his short sword and got in a basic fighting stance, doing his best to feel everything he could. It took him a few moments, but once he felt the cold across his face, he started his training with a few basic slices.

Once he felt comfortable, he began to incorporate punches and kicks into his combos. All the while, he heard his internal systems run at a faster pace than normal. His focus drifted away with each strike and before he knew it himself, he was back in his torture chamber.

Sparrow thrusted his sword forward, and heard her laughter.

He punched the air, and felt his arms and legs being ripped from his body.

He pulled off a sweeping low kick, and remembered the time she humiliated him, emasculated him, ruined him.

"NRRAAGH!" Sparrow roared as shuriken were loaded into his hand and he threw them with vicious accuracy into a tree.

"Ouch." The voice of Reaper severed all ties to Sparrow's memory. The cyborg turned to the source and saw the terrorist leaning against the tree with folded arms. Three shuriken looked as if they were embedded within his body, but the mist around him allowed Sparrow's weapons to phase right through him and into the tree trunk.

"How long were you there?" Sparrow asked.

"Couldn't Mercy detect me?"

"She's not activated at the moment."

"Hm." Reaper scratched his chin. "Well, for about ten minutes. Everyone else is on their way."

Sparrow glared at him behind his helmet.

"If you didn't want this to happen, you should have killed her at a later time. Preferably not in front of your friends." Reaper's attention was ripped away from their conversation as he heard a group of footsteps head their way. "Well we, or should I say you, have company." Reaper finished as everyone, including the rest of JSPR became present at the cliffs.

Not a word was spoken as teams RWBY, JNPR and JSPR met at the cliffside. Sparrow stood in front of all three teams with his back to them, looking at no one and refusing to meet anyone's gaze. The cyborg sighed and turned around as he sheathed his shuriken, short sword, and removed his helmet, showing his sapphire eyes that were oddly empty.

"Before you all start, I want to say a few things. After I've given my piece you can all tear into me as much as you want about my actions last night. I ask you all to hear what I have to say first though. Is that ok?"

Everyone nodded, Ruby and Pyrrha were hesitant but nodded as well. Sparrow let out a breath before looking at them all.

"I killed someone last night as you all witnessed. There's no sugar-coating it, there's no pitter-pattering around it. I took that woman's life in what you all assumed was cold blood, but that wasn't the case. I- we've all been secretive about our origins, mostly because it shouldn't matter, our team doesn't really belong here in the first place." he lowered his head at his own statement.

"I kept how I became a cyborg a secret because of how horrifying it was due to the circumstances surrounding it and because of my own fear. The only ones who knew of what happened to me were Reaper and Jaune to an extent." both nodded a bit at him. "I planned on telling you all exactly what happened to me soon after but now with what has happened you all deserved to know." He set down his helmet, fearing that he'd crush it while telling them what happened.

"The woman you saw me kill last night was Ember Rot," Blake's bow twitched at the sudden name and JSPR took notice. "She was a White Fang torturer who was infamous for her crude and downright terrifying torturing techniques. I'm sure you've heard of her Blake, hell you might've even met her." Blake immediately looked away in slight shame, remembering the name from when she was still in the White Fang. Adam always spoke highly of her, saying that she was very dedicated to the cause for Faunus equality and helped the organization immensely. What Blake didn't know was what exactly Ember Rot did which was torture, further showing just how far the White Fang has fallen.

"Sparrow...why are you telling us who she was? It doesn't matter if she was a terrorist, a torturer whatever! That didn't mean she deserved to die!" Ruby barked out not being able to contain her anger.

"THAT BITCH WAS THE REASON WHY I'M LIKE THIS!" Ruby recoiled in shock taking a step back as Sparrow roared in pure rage, his hands clenched so tightly sparks started to shoot out from the metal grinding against one another and the lights across his body began to glow a dark red instead of its usual blue making everyone uneasy at the sudden change.

"She cut my limbs off with a fucking bone saw, laughing while she did it! And then when I was lying there in a pool of my own blood, hoping and begging to die she thought it'd be funny if she used me for her own sick pleasure," Reaper looked away at that bit of information he knew already. "There wasn't a goddamn thing I could do about it! She goaded and egged me on, telling me to fight back but I could do nothing except just lay there and close my eyes! I still haven't accepted these steel limbs and parts! I still view myself as a freak! A weapon! Something that could no longer be considered human! Something that was created with the sole purpose to kill! That's why I killed her! I killed her so that your Jaune never had to go through the same pain I did! Because I almost killed myself while going through that and I'd be damned if I'm going to stand by and let it happen to someone else when I could eliminate the problem right there!" Jaune's entire body shook with fury, his aura flaring violently as his voice cracked periodically.

The others looked on, horrified at his words. Some looked sickened at the unimaginable torment or shuddered at the thought of what their Jaune could've suffered. Despite Sparrow's grievances, it still didn't sit right with them, the fact he killed her.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I understand why you did what you did Sparrow." Jaune spoke up, shocking his friends and even the cyborg in question, who's anger subsided as he listened to his counterparts' words.

"When you told me last week what happened to you in your world, how you became what you are, I don't know, it was weird seeing you, seeing me," he paused for a moment in order to process what he was going to say next. "act that way. After what you just said, I can't imagine what went through your head, seeing the same woman who had taken everything from you, stand before you. I'm not saying that I agree with killing her, but I understand why you did kill her, so I won't judge you for what you did."

"Jaune!" Ruby and Pyrrha yelled out in disappointment.

"I'm in the same boat as Jaune here but for different reasons." Reaper said as they turned to him.

"I've had to kill before; I won't lie I've downright enjoyed ending some people's existences mainly because they deserved death." he glared at Weiss, Blake, and Yang through his mask. To which they responded in kind.

"If what Sparrow said about Ember Rot was true, then he killed her for the right reasons. I will say that it wasn't the time or place, too many witnesses, too open and all of you were there. But, what's done is done, he ended her and by doing so he probably saved your Jaune and others from things I'd rather not explain." Reaper's gaze turned back to Ruby who was not happy at all with what he had to say.

"Was it a rash decision? Yeah, it was, but it was the right one to ensure that that bitch never hurt anyone ever again." Reaper spoke in Sparrow's defense. RWBY and NPR stunned, still not accepting that taking someone's life was the right way.

"We're training to be huntsman and huntresses. We're supposed to SAVE lives, we're supposed to protect lives! Not end them! I'll say it again, I don't care what she did! She didn't deserve to die! Sparrow could've knocked her out and the authorities would've sent her to prison!" Ruby argued.

"And what if Yang was the one who was tortured, dismembered, and raped Ruby? What if it was your own sister who was forced to be turned into a cyborg? Would you arrest her, let her go, or would you kill her assailant right there and then? Would you be able to hold yourself back from going too far?" Reaper narrowed his eyes and placed his hands on his hips, glaring at the counterpart of his closest friend.

Ruby shook her head, tears starting to stream down her face as she glared back at him.

"I know I'm beating a dead horse here...but I agree with Sparrow's actions." Re-Jaune finally spoke up, shocking NPR and RWBY.

"Sparrow, Reaper and even I have all taken lives before. I will safely say that we aren't used to it, but we have done what you all deem unacceptable. I'm not ashamed to admit it and Ruby, I wished that I didn't have to take lives, to kill." relief filled Ruby's face for a second.

"But," and just like that the relief was gone, "the thing is if you leave someone who wants you dead alive, who has harmed and even killed someone dear to you, then they'll just come back Rubes. They'll just come back even stronger than before and end up taking away more of your loved ones."

Re-Jaune closed his eyes, remembering all too well the damage Cinder caused after killing Pyrrha. Helping Salem release the Grimm King and the entire world being turned into a death laden wasteland. He made a promise like Sparrow did, that this world wouldn't suffer the same fate and he intended to keep it that way.

"I really have no say in this," all attention was turned to Puppy Arc who hopped out of Pyrrha's arms. "But, when we were young, we always talked about saving people. Even if they stray away from the right path, they can still find their way back."

All the Jaune's eyes widened at what Puppy was getting at. "Our mother said that to us John, she said that to every one of us didn't she?" silence was his only answer "Even though we may be different and we may have different mothers, we were all raised the same, and she taught us those important lessons." Puppy Arc spoke up sitting next to Pyrrha, who was struggling to keep herself from breaking down. The pup jumped into her arms again, doing his best to help calm her down. The champion welcomed it and buried her face in his fur. Jaune moved next to her but did nothing, knowing that he disappointed his girlfriend.

"If we kill our enemies, that makes us no better than the people we fight. We don't cross that line because it's what makes us human. Ironic I know." Puppy Arc ended before Ruby spoke up once more.

"Puppy is right, we're defenders of peace. We protect those who can't protect themselves and preserve life. ALL life! Including the lives of our enemies. What happened to Sparrow...it's too horrifying to even think about. But looking past the pain, the anger and the vengeance, everyone deserves a second chance! She may have taken away your limbs and hurt you, Sparrow, but, you're still here, you're still living. That alone should be enough to prove to yourself that you're better than them! All of you are better than that! You guys don't have to kill!" Ruby yelled as she tried to get them to understand.

"And that's the kind of mindset that will get you and everyone around you killed, Ruby." Reaper said without hesitation, angering the Rose even more and was about to retort when Yang beat her to it.

"How can you even say that?! You may call yourself Reaper, but you're still Jaune Arc! What made you all so cold and unfeeling at the thought of killing someone else?!" Yang spoke up and Reaper glared at her, his red eyes blazing.

"I'm looking right at her." Reaper couldn't help but smirk under his mask as his statement stopped all of them in their tracks. "You're really that naïve to believe that Jaune is the only one with different versions of himself?"

"There's no way." Ruby stepped in. "Yang would never do that!"

"And Jaune Arc would never turn into a terrorist that would target the people he used to call family, yet here I am." Reaper's smirk disappeared as Ruby looked as if she could shatter at any moment.

"It's simple, we're not the Jaune you all know and love. All of you need to get this through your thick fucking heads," he wavered for a second, seeing everyone flinch at his words. "We're not the same Jaune Arc as this world. We've all been affected in different ways, whether it be physical, psychological or both. We may share the same voice, same hair and same face but we're completely different. So why don't you all stop acting like we should be exactly like this worlds Jaune Arc?" Reaper's words echoed through everyone's ears, hitting home and leaving everyone dead silent.

Pyrrha was the one to speak up first, sitting Puppy Arc down and looking right at Re-Jaune.

"John...I think you should give them your journal." everyone who wasn't aware of the journal grew confused.

"They deserve to know the truth." Pyrrha looked at Re-Jaune with sad emerald eyes and the time traveller could only clench his fists in anger. He made Pyrrha cry again, when would he stop hurting her? Re-Jaune sighed and reached into his back pocket before he walked up to his former partner and handing the old book to her.

"Do what you will." he told everyone. "Believe it, or don't. I- we really don't have the luxury to care at the moment." Re-Jaune turned on his heel, and motioned at Jaune. "I won't force you to come with us, but we gotta prepare for what's to come." Reaper and Sparrow nodded before following Re-Jaune.

Jaune remained still for a few moments before taking a step forward. "Let me talk to them, okay?" he told the rest of them before they could interject. "I mean, I know me better than anyone else." he finished with a slight chuckle before trotting behind the rest of the Jaunes, leaving them speechless.

Puppy Arc stayed behind whimpering and trying to hold back tears that threatened to leak out. Pyrrha picked up the pup, it was her turn to comfort him.

 **(Cinder's dorm)**

"Yes mistress, all is going according to plan for the Vytal Festival. The White Fang wait on the outskirts of Vale for my order to attack and the Grimm have mobilized around Beacon. All we need now is to commence our plan for the tournament and attain the power of the maiden."

 **"Good work, Cinder. I trust in you that all will go smoothly. Do what you must to attain the other half of the maiden. I will talk to you after your task is finished."**

The seer went silent and melded away, Cinder sighed in relief. No matter how many times she talked to Salem, she always felt uneasy. The false maiden looked over at Emerald and Mercury who we're waiting patiently for the conversation to end.

"I know she's the leader of our uprising thing but damn she scares the piss out of me and that's quite the accomplishment." Mercury spoke to himself and Emerald rolled her eyes.

"She should scare you; her power is unrivalled. Cinder told me herself that a maiden would have no chance whatsoever against Salem."

"I gathered. So, are we still rigging the fights so that I fight that Xiao Long chick? I'd like to smash the cocky grin right off her hot face."

"Of course. Everything is proceeding as planned. Now all we have to do is-"

 **"So, this is what Salem sends to destroy her enemies? Two cocky children and a half maiden with dreams of grandeur? If you think you can win this war like this, you are clearly mistaken,"** The trio leaped to their feet immediately, weapons at the ready and scanning the room endlessly trying to find the source of the voice. **"No matter, you three will have to do for now."**

"Who are you?! How do you know of my master?! Show yourself!"

 **"Apologies,"** the voice said with a chuckle. **"I didn't mean to startle you. I merely made my thoughts known to you. There is much going on at Beacon right now than you know. Ozpin has new allies, powerful ones indeed. If you go in right now with that attitude, then you will surely be killed."** The voice echoed before the half-formed body of the Grimm King appeared before them, radiating an air of power and making Emerald and Mercury stunned in place, sweat dripped down their beings in utter terror.

Cinder felt the power of the Maiden screaming inside her to get away, but found her feet cemented to the floor. She looked up at the monster before her, his form eerily familiar, but his Grimm aesthetic and older posture made him an unknown.

"W-who, what are you?" Cinder asked as he relented the pressure.

 **"My name…is Noctis Mors,"** the Grimm King smiled at his plan that was just set in motion. A little more deception wouldn't hurt his plans in the slightest, even if it was towards his temporary subordinates.

" **I am Salem's personal eyes and ears, her shadow that watches your every move. The figure that exists in the corner of your eye that you can't quite see…"** he exemplified this as he disappeared and reappeared behind her without her knowledge, causing fear to creep into her soul as she jumped back.

"I…I've never met you before. How come Salem hasn't mentioned you before? Does Watts know? Tyrian? Hazel?" she asked as the entity chuckled.

 **"My…Mistress prefers that my existence be kept to a minimum, so as not to tip off Ozpin and his spies. Which is why there must be no mention of me when you report to her. I inform her personally myself. As for why you don't know…well, there are things that she likes to keep to herself. You're not that special, Little Thief. Remember that." He grinned as he got up close to her face. "But she sensed a disturbance in the plan and sent me to assist you."** He held his hand as it radiated with power and an image of Re-Jaune appeared within the red and black mist.

" **The one that threatened you in the arena, and the rest of his team, are unlike anything you've ever faced. Salem has sensed their power and realizes that you cannot defeat them alone. So, she has sent me to give you…a gift…in order to defeat them"** He said as Cinder glared at the image of the man that threatened her.

"Pfft," Mercury said as he snapped out of his stupor. "We did the background check on Arc, he's nothing compared to the rest of the school." the assassin rolled his eyes before he felt a clawed hand on his throat and Noctis closed the distance between their faces with a grin.

 **"That kind of thinking is what will get you killed. Do not under any circumstance ever underestimate the power of the Elder Arc."** He pushed the claw deeper as he drew blood. **"He has killed many a man such as you with single strike of his blade, without hesitation or remorse. He will not hesitate to end your life, unlike those that follow Ozpin's orders. I will repeat, do not underestimate him…"** he threatened as the teen slowly nodded and let the boy go.

"If he is such a threat, why haven't we encountered him sooner?" Cinder asked as the Grimm-hybrid grinned.

 **"Because unlike his brother, 'John' Arc decided he needed to forge his own power sooner rather than later. Until recently he didn't interfere with our mistress plans until he was contacted by Ozpin. It seems he attracted the man due to his immense power and skill. Such an opponent could easily change the tide of this war. In order to ensure victory, Salem has tasked me to give you this power that I have to ensure your victory against him and his allies."** The Grimm king had a bad taste in his demonic mouth as he acted as one of Salem's disposable subjects, that mindset would soon change in due time.

He held up his hand as it swarmed with dark and malicious intent as the symbol of a tri-horned dragon appeared within the fire. Its flames were both horrifying and alluring as Cinder gazed at the prospect of more power. Power that she so believed was hers by right and strived towards.

 **"I must remined you though, that if you fail, Salem will not take it lightly and will unleash her full wrath upon you. Trust me, I have seen her wrath upon those that fail her…and it is not kind."** he lied through his teeth as fear struck Cinder to the core.

 **"But in order to receive this gift, Salem asks only one thing of you…your complete and utter loyalty to the cause. Be warned, once you've accepted this gift, there is no going back to what you once were. But with it, you shall fulfill your innermost desires…now…do we have a deal?"** he asked as he grinned to the three who looked between each other cautiously.

Until all three nodded. "We accept." Cinder said as he grinned.

 **"Good…then let us begin…"** he held his hand forward as his power surged from him and into the three as their screams echoed out into the night. Never realizing until later on how they had just been deceived by the true master of the Grimm and how their lives will ensure his goals.

 **'Fools…the lot of them. Be prepared Jaune, for I am almost ready…how about you?'**

* * *

 **Ominous huh? Hope you all enjoyed! read and review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Noble: Here's another chap, emotion heavy, complicated conversations and moral questions.**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

"You guys are doing what?! Jaune yelled in shock still trailing behind his counterparts.

"Like I just said, we're done waiting around and wasting time." Re-Jaune said as he readied his gear, being only his spare pistol. "If we're going to have a surefire way of getting home we need to act and get any obstacles we may have out of our way. Not to mention the Grimm King. So, we're starting by taking out Adam Taurus and the Vale branch of the White Fang."

"I don't even know who that is." Jaune said while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Also why the White Fang? Is Sparrow still pissed off about what happened?"

"No." Reaper said while going over his loadout, "The White Fang were the pawns used in the attack at Beacon. Taking them out now, at least this branch, will give us an advantage."

"That's...crazy! Insane! The three of you versus the White Fang?!" John looked back and smirked at his 'little brother'.

"I wouldn't sell us so short. We're a pretty capable bunch. Don't even try to stop us either. We all know how stubborn we can be."

"I wasn't going to stop you, I wanted to talk! So just slow down and listen!" The three Arcs stopped and turned to their main counterpart. "Ok, thank you. Look, I know that basically everyone back there disagrees with you on what happened," Jaune looked away with discomfort. "But just please give them time. They'll give you another chance, so just hold off on doing anything rash alright?"

"You just said you weren't going to try and stop us." Reaper growled and Jaune took a step back.

"I'm not, but I wanted you guys to just take a second and think about what you're gonna do!" Jaune retorted. "This isn't any of your worlds! What if you three do something that makes mine worse?!"

Sparrow folded his arms in defense at the absurd possibility. "Our minds are made up Jaune. We know what we're going to do. Eliminate a threat, by any means necessary." Sparrow said coldly turning his back to the younger Arc. Reaper followed suit with his friend. Re-jaune looked at jaune with a somewhat sad smile.

"I made a promise Jaune. That this world wouldn't suffer the same fate as mine...and I intend to keep that promise. Whatever it takes." Re-Jaune walked away and left Jaune behind. The young knight looked down at the ground and closed his eyes.

"What if we fail? What if you fail?"

Re-Jaune froze for a moment at the look his counterpart, no, his past was giving him. It was one the time traveler shared with the rest of his team multiple times throughout their trip across Remnant. The doubt that seeped through his being began to infect him, making him question if what he was doing really worth it.

"Hey! John!" Reaper called out. "We doing this or not?"

Re-Jaune nodded and turned his back from Jaune, trying to shake the look his younger self gave him just moments ago.

'I got left behind again...I'm tired of this.' Jaune thought as he gritted his teeth, all while watching the backs of his selves walk away from him.

The three Arcs made their way to the bullhead docks, they said nothing before they finally boarded the bullhead.

"Pilot, I want you to take us to the outskirts of Vale, right outside of the Forever Fall." John ordered the pilot who gave all of them quizzical looks.

"That's a hot zone of Grimm activity and bandits, you sure you want to go there?"

"We'll be fine. We're scouting out a potential cell of White Fang activity. It's just a recon mission. We'll radio for pickup once we gather intelligence." Re-Jaune lied. The pilot paused before he reluctantly nodded and the bullhead took off.

The trio were thankful they kept the doors open so they could hurl on their way to their destination. The pilot could only cringe as he heard the violent heaving from the three of them. Once he finally set the metal death-trap down, he breathed a sigh of relief and took off once the trio dismounted.

Reaper, Sparrow, and Re-Jaune took deep breaths as they emptied whatever was left in their stomachs. What followed were groans of despair before the three stood back up and focused on their objective.

"Got Taurus' scroll handy, Sparks?" Reaper asked and the cyborg nodded.

"Yes, I got it." He held up the scroll in question and handed it to the psychopath, who then smirked beneath his mask before he fiddled around with it. After a few moments, the hooded Arc pointed north.

"A few miles north. That's where the camp is." Reaper said before letting out a low whistle. "All of Adam's primary forces, weapons caches and Adam himself are supposed to be present there. We'll be able to destroy the main invasion force of Cinder's army all at once. Good thinking grabbing Rot's scroll from her dead corpse. Came in handy."

"My AI was the one who reminded me to grab it."

"Wouldn't your AI be able to access it?" Re-Jaune asked?

"She isn't meant for hacking cybernetics. More for maintaining my armor and analyzing potential threats." Sparrow said.

"Gotta remember to thank Sombra for the hacking lessons." Reaper commented to mostly himself.

"Good work on that." Re-Jaune said. "Now here's how we'll destroy the camp; the weapons caches will surely be filled with a myriad of different explosives and ordnance. You two will use whatever you can find as explosives and plant them all around the stronghold as quickly as possible while I stall Adam. After your tasks are done, we take out everyone who fights back, including Adam. If they give up, we'll hand them over to the authorities and they'll be taken into custody. Sound good?" Re-Jaune ordered as both of them nodded

"Best plan I've heard in a while." Reaper said before he looked at Sparrow. "How about you?"

"You already know my answer. This is payback for what those fuckers did to me and were going to do to Jaune. Let's crush these radicals." Sparrow growled. The other two nodded in agreement and Sparrow brought up Mercy.

"Mercy, scan for the highest concentration of ordnance and explosives."

''Scans indicate that the weapons are stashed inside of the third tent next to the guard tower. I'm detecting several heat signatures and a high volume of dust as well. Proceed with caution, I will assist you all as much as I can."

"Thank you, Mercy. Let's get to work." Sparrow whispered before he disappeared into the tree line, expertly maneuvering himself through the flora and fauna towards his objective.

Reaper rolled his eyes and dissipated to the other end of the tree line before he phased his way into the camp. Re-Jaune took in a breath before he found his way into the camp through a blind spot in their perimeter.

He immediately set his sights on a guard who was patrolling between a tent and the outer parts of the camp. John descended on the poor man in a flash, slamming his fist into the man's head and knocking him out cold. Jaune quickly pumped aura into his legs, cradling the sentry's unconscious form, taking a mighty leap that launched him a good distance away from the camp. He quickly donned the uniform and picked up the rifle the grunt was using. The time traveler cocked the slide back, ensuring a round was chambered before grabbing what ammo was on the man and hiding his weapons beneath the garb.

'Good, now I look like a terrorist.' He groaned before he wondered what his Pyrrha would think of him at that moment 'Time to make my way to Adam's tent. Now if I were and egotistical overly obsessed terrorist where would I be?' Re-Jaune walked around the camp, and noticed the lack of guards, as if they had disappeared.

Re-Jaune turned the corner and saw one sentry being pulled straight from his post and sucked into the brush behind him. Another seemingly disappeared in a black mist, being strangled by an unseen form. Any other guards Reaper and Sparrow didn't take down paid him no mind as he strolled through the base without a care in the world.

'Keep up the good work fellas.' Jaune smirked and finally found himself in front of the largest tent in the camp. He opened it up to find Adam talking with his massive lieutenant, the same one that gave Weiss such a bad beating. The two looked at him with puzzled looks.

"What is it, Perry? Was there a disturbance?"

There were no words to be had as Re-Jaune's eyes narrowed in on the two targets and he immediately fired off the entire magazine in the rifle at the two. They ducked for cover but not before taking several rounds. The time traveler removed his mask along with the rest of his disguise and smirked at the men.

"An assassin?! Who sent you?! Atlas?!"

"I don't think so, Taurus." He dropped the rifle to the ground. "I was thinking about talking it out with you, but I know how much of an over-obsessed stalker you are, so I'll do Blake a favor and kill you right here." He spoke as he cracked his neck to emphasize his point.

"How do you know about her?!" Adam vaulted over the table he was using as cover and swung his blade down on his assailant, striking with deadly precision and power. His eyes went wide when he saw his blade was caught with the blonde man's spare hand.

"Didn't even scratch my aura." Adam tried to remain calm, but he failed to hide the uncertainty in regard to his attack that did absolutely nothing.

"Fool!" Adam said before his lieutenant roared and crashed his chainsaw down on Re-Jaune, expecting to see mincemeat but was met with dust.

The giant of a man was met with a rib crushing blow to the stomach, He felt his aura shatter along with his bones from the sheer force from the punch and was knocked out with a jaw shattering uppercut straight to his chin. He fell to the ground in a heap and Jaune turned around at Adam who was in the process of being shell shocked. The terrorist shook his head and growled charging forward and slashing at Jaune with a flurry of strikes.

The Arc unsheathed his sword and blocked each incoming blow with minimal effort, lazily batting aside the final strike and slashing Taurus across the chest with a powerful slash. Blood sprayed out of the mad man's chest, staring down in disbelief that his opponent's strike was powerful enough to break through his aura entirely.

"Crap...I didn't hold back on that last swing. What's taking those other two so long? The explosions should've started-"

*BOOM*

"Ah there we go. Basically, right on time." Jaune sighed in content and looked down at Adam who was trying to stem the flow of blood from his wound. Adam crawled his way out of the tent, wanting to see what was going on. What he saw was the entire camp set ablaze as the sounds of his men's screams echoed out into the night. He grunted in pain as more of his blood piled into the ever-growing pool beneath him.

"W-Why are you doing this?" he asked as Re-Jaune looked at the man.

"You ask me why I am doing this? Even after everything you've done. Well, It's simple. You're a monster, a blood thirsty animal with no sense of control or empathy whatsoever. That's not a racist statement, but a fact. You're a stain on the rest of your kind. You've killed, slaughtered and butchered many innocent people in your pursuit for vengeance while claiming to fight for your people. But the truth is your bloodlust has consumed you so much that you can no longer see the truth that's right in front of you." He kneeled down ad glared into the man's eyes.

"You were being used." He spoke as Adam looked into his eyes.

"You have no idea what's truly going on in this world and instead only lash out for what it's done to you. You never stopped to think for a moment that you have become the very thing you fought against. You never stopped to think about who truly benefits from your personal grudge against the four kingdoms." He grabbed the man by his hair and pulled his face closer. "Instead you just charge headfirst like a bull at something red, never noticing the blade poised to strike you down." He shook his head.

"But not only that…I know what you are capable of, I know who you work for, I know what you will do and what you will become. And I cannot allow that to happen. For the sake of this world…you must die." He let go of the man as he stood up. "But whatever, tonight is not my night to kill you. That falls to my friend, who should be here any minute..."

The cyborg in question appeared in a flash, Katana, and wakizashi stained with only a bit of blood. Shotguns could still be heard going off outside of the tent as a few screams pierced the air.

"Well, you beat him quicker than I thought. You really are a beast huh?" Sparrow commented and Re-Jaune shrugged.

"Nobody's perfect. Do you want the honors, Sparrow?" he asked as the cyborg nodded.

"Absolutely. Haven't gotten a chance to end him back in my world." Sparrow stalked forward.

Before Adam could question the machine's remark, the cyborg sent his metal foot down on the faunus, crushing into Adams's chest. The extremist gasped for air, struggling to breathe as Sparrow continued his assault on him. He sent barrage after barrage of countless punches, kicks, and the occasional shuriken. Moments later Adam laid sprawled out on the ground, mask broken into pieces exposing his face and barely conscious.

"Holy shit didn't know the SDC branded him." Re-Jaune said before wincing at the thought. "That's kinda messed up. Makes you almost feel sorry for him."

"How…find… us?" Adam could barely talk and coughed up blood. Sparrow crouched down to eye level with him and pulled out another shuriken.

"Simple. Last night I ran into your favorite torturer Ember Rot, killed her then took her scroll. I know what you were planning, kidnapping the weakest member out of all her friends and hold him for ransom." Sparrow's fist began to shake. "Tell me I'm wrong Taurus, tell me that you weren't going to capture Jaune Arc and trade him for Blake. " Adam was dead silent. Sparrow glared behind his helmet before shaking his head.

"That's what I thought. You were going to have that bitch Ember capture him and let her do whatever she wanted to him. Well, guess what, do you want to see what she had planned for him? What she would've done to him? Well, this is what she does!" Sparrow roared and tore off Adam's arm, making the terrorist scream in pain ever worse than before. Sparrow tore off the other arm just as swiftly and without mercy, his lights on his body starting to turn red again. He was about to go for the legs when re-jaune grabbed his wrist.

That's enough Sparrow." The cyborg glared at him. "There's no need to prolonging this. He's beaten, just kill him and be done with it. He already passed out from the pain. " the time traveler ordered, and sparrow took in a few deep breaths before he went back to his normal blue light coloring. He unsheathed his katana and stabbed it straight into Adams's throat. The terrorist gave out one last whine before going still.

Sparrow sighed a breath of relief as he flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed his katana. "It's done." The time traveler merely stared at the corpse then back at the ninja.

"Feel better?"

"…No…" Re-Jaune nodded as he understood. Despite knowing that one day he will kill Cinder, it wouldn't change what had happened to him. What had happened in his past, "But at least I can rest well knowing this Jaune won't suffer the same fate as I did."

"That's all we can really hope for." black mist swirled around them before Reaper appeared before them.

"That's the last of them, what was left ran off screaming in terror. There's no way Cinder is going to be able to pull off the invasion without White Fang support." He shook the blood from his guns before sheathing them. "Is the bull dead?" they gestured to the corpse as he tilted his head.

"Did you make him suffer?" Re-Jaune shook his head.

"Passed out before he could feel most of it."

"Shame…I would've prolonged it."

Re-Jaune sighed as he sheathed his blade. "Come on, let's head back to the shuttle. No doubt our main counterpart has already told the others where we headed. And they should've had enough time to read the journal. Hopefully, they'll understand why we had to do this."

"Doubtful. But we have to face the music eventually…god, it's going to be annoying." Reaper groaned as he slithered back to the shuttle. Re-Jaune and Sparrow looking back at the camp before heading back the way they came.

Little did they know, hours later, that a dark shadow was looming from just beyond their sight as it slithered out of the darkness and stood over the body of Adam Taurus. Kneeling down as the Grimm King smirked at the deceased terrorist.

"A violent end for a violent man…such is the fate of allkind… But while this place has become your grave." His fingers became like mist and seeped into the corpse. "Your corpse shall serve me more…" the body pulsed and convulsed as the Dark King spread his power and influence into the deceased Adam.

Bones began to break; skin began to pale to a pale marble and the horns upon his head grew longer and more twisted. His teeth and nails began to sharpen as his body slowly began to rise. Bone plating formed across his chest and limbs before the Grimmified Adam Taurus stood before him. Adam stumbled forward as an almost animalistic growl exited his throat and a deafening roar resonated through the forest. The Grimm King smirked as Adam turned to the King and kneeled before him.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Noctis grinned as three more red eyes glowed behind him.

"Come, my friend. We have much to do."

(RWBY's Dorm)

"To anyone who finds this, my name is...was...Jaune Arc the last human on remnant...and I swear, I will kill her before this day is done...and then...I will have my end." Blake read the final entry of Re-Jaune's journal to both teams, shaking uncontrollably and barely able to hold onto the old book. Everyone around her said nothing, stunned into silence at what Blake read. Nora was trembling in Ren's arms, tears streaming down her face, struggling to stem the flow before giving up and burying herself into his chest still sobbing. Ren embraced his lifelong companion, skin paler than usual and eyes looking older after hearing what had happened to 'Johns' world. RWBY was no better, ruby had Zwei cradled in her lap tears staining her leggins and the loyal corgi was trying to calm his beloved owner. Yang sat next to her sister, doing her best to act strong and calm for Ruby but couldn't stop hyperventilating at what was said. Blake was shaking her head mumbling to herself incoherent words still trying to make sense at what she read and Weiss stood next to her, the heiress's composure shattered as she like Blake tried to comprehend what was said. Pyrrha stood with Puppy Arc sitting by her feet, the two being the only ones unaffected by the words encased inside the old journal.

"It can't be...there has to be some mistake..." Ruby whimpered while Zwei whined and licked her tears.

"Why would he lie? If what was in the journal is true...then..." Weiss whispered before shaking her head and scratching at her hair.

"It's the truth. From beginning to end, he recorded the adventures of teams RWBY and JNPR. From our first mission to our final one that leads to our eventual deaths. I only found out a week ago and was just shattered as you all. It's still hard for me to take in but believe me, when I talked to John he was dead serious and set on not telling us what happened in his world. I'm starting to understand why the three of them have tried to be secretive about themselves."

"When did he tell you?" Ren barely could be heard as he stared at Puppy Arc.

"He told us the day Jaune got hurt by Cinder. After we all got back to our dorm, he told us everything and how this world could suffer the same fate. Looking back on it, if you were to ask me, we all were too quick to be disappointed at their willingness to kill. Because if my world was destroyed because of a single persons lust for power and ending them was the only way to save it...I'd find a way to make myself do the unthinkable deed."

No one responded or tried to argue with him, the room coming to a dead silence once more all while they wondered how their next interaction with the other Jaune's would go.

* * *

 **Sorry for the late update. Shorter than usual but being used to set up the future of the story. Read and review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**So...Long wait huh? I'm really sorry for the long wait everyone, had a bad case of writer's block and couldn't think of anything but now we're back! Read and review!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

The three Jaunes paced themselves as they made their way down the familiar halls of Beacon Academy, knowing all too well what they were about to face.

"How do you think this is going to go down?" Reaper asked while he turned his head to Re-Jaune.

"Well," Re-Jaune said before he placed a thumb under his chin. "I really don't know."

"That makes three of us." Sparrow said. Despite the trouble they were about to face, his voice resonated with a peaceful demeanor.

"I would be lying if I said it felt off," Re-Jaune said, which earned the attention of both Reaper and Sparrow. "Meddling with this world and all. I don't like changing it so much, especially for this world's Jaune, but…"

"It's his fault we're here in the first place." Reaper said not with malice, but rather stated a fact. "If we want to get home as well as deal with your little plus one," Reaper nudged Re-Jaune with his elbow. "Then we have to do something."

"I suppose so," Re-Jaune said as his gaze hardened at the door they were heading to. "But that still doesn't make it feel right."

"Any of you ready for this?" Sparrow asked.

"Not in the slightest." Re-Jaune replied.

"That's the spirit." Reaper said before opening the door.

Sparrow, Re-Jaune, and Reaper entered RWBY's dorm and immediately noticed the dead silence. The three Arcs knew that they all must have read Re-Jaune's journal to its final page and their current silence was a telltale sign at what was to come.

"The only question I have for everyone here before we start, do you all understand why we do what we do?" Re-Jaune asked and everyone in the room nodded one by one even Ruby.

"All of that really happened?" Blake broke the silence on their part. Re-Jaune looked at her and noticed that everyone sans Jaune had the same look. They were all shaken, speechless, and horrified.

"Yes." Re-Jaune said. "I can't really speak for the rest of us." he gestured to the other Jaunes, "But that's what happened to me."

"You saw us all die?" Nora asked with a shaky breath. She made sure Ren was close to her.

Re-Jaune did nothing but nod.

Ren shook his head and held Nora in a tight embrace. The Valkyrie shuddered and said nothing more with her throat too sore to say anything.

"I don't like this." Weiss said without making eye contact with any of the Jaunes. "But this…" she looked towards the journal. "I mean, what choice is there to make?" with eyes full of determination, she finally made eye contact with Re-Jaune. "We may not be fully trained, nor the most applicable of assistance, but if you do need any help, you have my support."

Sparrow and Re-Jaune looked at the heiress with gratitude, yet Reaper remained wary. They then shifted their gaze to Ruby and Yang, the two having said nothing since the three-dimension travelers returned. Yang was the first to speak still holding Ruby with a single arm.

"I'm going to be completely honest to the three of you, I now understand why you do what you do. At least I know why John does what he does," she gave him a halfhearted smile before she reverted to her big sister demeanor. "But I speak for both Ruby and I when we just can't support it. Killing our enemies makes us no better than them. Makes us no better than Roman, or the extremists in the White Fang." she let out a breath before she put her hands up in defense "I won't try to stop you, but know that I can't and won't help with any of this."

"Even if it means Ruby dies?" Reaper growled.

That's all he had to say as Yang's eyes went blood red. The brawler rose to her feet but was stopped when Ruby grasped her arm. They both felt Reaper's narrowed eyes on them, But Ruby glared back.

"I've made my decision. As leader of team RWBY, none of our members will help the three of you. I can't sleep in peace at night with the knowledge that I've been helping end people's lives. It doesn't matter if they're evil, we don't cross that line."

"That's not a call you get to make Ruby!" Weiss said in an outburst. "I just promised them that I would help and I'm going to!" Ruby was about to respond, but the heiress interjected "Do you think they want to kill? Do you think I want to kill? Do you think I'm trying to be just like him?" Weiss pointed at Reaper with a bit of disdain.

"She's not wrong." Reaper said with a shrug and focused his attention on Weiss.

"Oum above, I don't want to do it, Ruby! I'd rather be a student for the next four years and enjoy being one in peacetime," her fists tightened at the memory of her reminding Blake that they were just students. "But when the entire world is at stake, sacrificing our morals is a small price to ensure the survival of the human and faunus race! We all read what happens!" Weiss seethed surging to her feet appalled that her leader and partner would make such a decision.

"I'll keep saying it Weiss! I won't kill any people! And neither will anyone one on team RWBY will help end a life! I'm not saying that we're going to interfere with their own personal missions, but we are not going to help!"

"There it is again!" Weiss exclaimed with such anger that made the rest of their team and sister team squirm.

"That same naive mindset that has driven me crazy since we first became partners! That childish behavior WILL get someone killed! This journal has abundantly proven and made clear that the world we live in is not black and white! What is it going to take for you to understand that Ruby?! What further proof do you need?!" Ruby did her best not to flinch under Weiss' verbal lashings

"The good aren't knights in shining armor who arrive to save the day and ride off into the sunset!" the Heiress continued. "The good aren't keepers of peace and defenders of the weak! The good are those who are willing to do the unthinkable, the terrible and downright terrifying deed in order to keep the world safe! That is exactly what John, Sparrow and Reaper are doing!"

"Never thought there would be a day she would defend us, let alone me." Reaper whispered.

"Shut up." Re-Jaune growled.

"Though they've made it clear that the three of them are different from our Jaune, they had the same aspirations as he once had! The three of them had to mature and learn much more quickly knowing the world can become much worse if certain measures aren't taken! John's journal proves that!" Weiss ended her argument with a breath, yet retained her harsh glare on her leader.

Re-Jaune stared at the scene before him and recognized it all too well. In his timeline, it took Yang dying to make Ruby understand that fighting with the intent to kill was the only way to save more people. And at the time it did. Ruby fighting without mercy saved his life and many others before the Grimm King rose. It hurt and still hurt to witness Ruby's innocence crumble for the necessity of preservation.

"I'm not going to force you to help," Re-Jaune said as he made his way between the two partners. "I'm not even asking you to be ok with what we're going to do Ruby. I'd never do that." His eyes softened for a few moments before hardening once more. "But know that this is what's necessary and what must be done in order to save the lives of those you love and those who can't protect themselves. Think about that." Re-Jaune said plainly and Sparrow spoke after him.

"If you can never forgive our actions I understand." Sparrow piped up. "The three of us understand. Even if you hate us. I'd rather lose a friendship than see that friend buried." Sparrow concluded and Reaper finally spoke last.

"Doesn't really matter to me if you hate my guts or not. I'm doing what needs to be done." Re-Jaune and Sparrow winced at Reaper's harsh words. "You want to get in my way? Fine. Wouldn't be the first time I was stabbed in the back by someone I trusted. Probably won't be the last either. But listen to me when I say this." Reaper walked to Ruby and loomed over her with his overwhelming stature, her eyes continued to leak out tears as she stared into his lifeless red orbs.

"Those morals of yours are just that. Morals. In this line of work that you chose willingly," Reaper's voice dripped with malice in those moments. "Morals end the many lives you want to save as much as the Grimm or the enemies we face. Have someone close to you die or be betrayed by those you considered family, I guarantee that'll change your mind real quick. That's all I got to say to you. You two ready?"

The cyborg and time-traveler nodded following Reaper out the door not looking back. Silence hung in the room once more as they closed the door shut leaving the two teams alone in silence. Ruby lost her composure and finally broke down crying uncontrollably.

Sparrow cringed upon hearing Ruby break down. If there was one sound that he couldn't stand it was his dear friend heartbroken.

"Do you think we went too far in there? That we laid it on too thick?"

"No." was all Reaper said. "Right now, it doesn't matter, we only got a week before the Vytal festival starts and still got plenty of things to do. Like maybe sneak onto Ironwood's ship and kill Roman." Sparrow tapped his chin and shrugged then looked at the de facto leader of their group. Re-Jaune stood there before nodding his head and looking at the two.

"Then we're in agreement. Take out Roman and Cinder doesn't make Atlas's robots go rampant keeping Ironwoods image intact along with the Atlas military being more effective during the attack." Re-Jaune explained and his companions nodded in unison.

"So, assassination then. That means it'll just be me and Not-a-Real-Boy over here doing this." Reaper groaned.

Re-Jaune looked at him puzzled. "Huh? What do you mean I can't be there for this mission?" he asked.

"Arc," Reaper said with a bored stare. "You don't have a disguise, and on top of that look exactly like the Jaune here in this world. Seeing his face on a bunch of security cameras inside of an Atlas battleship would be pretty bad wouldn't you say?"

"Reaper's right," Sparrow said. "Also, I don't know if my Atlas clearance card from my world can work here but I can give it a shot. Plus, Mercy can hack into the ship's systems to play with the camera feed so it's on a playback loop since she's an Atlas AI. It'll be clean in and out." he winced at what he had to say next. "It would be better for Reaper and I to do this alone since we have better stealth capabilities than you at this time."

Re-Jaune rose a finger to argue but immediately let it fall, understanding completely what the two were talking about. When it came to being subtle in regard to his identity, he'd be a liability.

"So, what should I do while the two of you go on your operation?" the time traveler asked.

"I don't know, go train this worlds Jaune." Reaper suggested as he checked the gear he had on his person. "Go distract Ozpin and maybe Ironwood if the tin man is visiting that old four-eyed bastard. It'll be a pain to explain it anyway." the terrorist shrugged his shoulders. "You could also tell Puppy to eavesdrop on Cinder's merry bunch of assholes. Just don't waste time. We don't have a lot of it so we gotta make it count." Reaper finished with Sparrow following up.

"It won't take us too long. Possibly three hours in total." Sparrow reassured.

"Still," Re- Jaune said. "The real challenge will be getting up there. Not to mention, Ironwood after the fact." all of them winced at the shit they were going to get for pulling their next mission off.

"I don't know about the general," Sparrow started. "But transportation, I may have an idea for that."

"And that would be?" Reaper asked curiously while Sparrow scratched his helmet nervously.

"Well it depends, are you afraid of heights?" The cyborg asked, puzzling his other two counterparts.

 **(Thirty-five minutes later, at an ungodly high altitude)**

"This is your plan?!" Reaper screeched as the wind whipped at his clothes and rocked the bullhead. All while Re-Jaune was struggling to keep the metal bird stable.

"If you guys are going to jump do it now! It's no different than how we landed in the emerald forest!" Re- Jaune said. "That and I'm still a bit rusty when it comes to flying one of these things!"

"Except there are no trees to break our falls!" Reaper growled and Sparrow laughed at his friend's words before patting him on the shoulder.

"You'll be fine Reaper! Your essentially immortal remember?" He called out before letting out a laugh of joy and jumped out of the aircraft. Reaper shook his head before he jumped after his Cyborg counterpart.

'Fucking crazy bastards.' Re-Jaune thought. 'They'll be alright though, now let's get back to Beacon and see if I can get Puppy Arc to eavesdrop on Cinder's group.' He pulled the bullhead away and flew back towards Beacon, planning his next move.

 **(Reaper and Sparrow)**

"Current velocity, 120 miles per hour, the target is currently twenty thousand feet below us. Estimated arrival time, ETA two minutes. Safest trajectory has been uploaded to your heads-up display agent Sparrow." Mercy reported and the cyborg nodded with his arms glued to his sides so he could fall faster despite the whipping wind against his helmet.

"Much appreciated Mercy! I'm aiming for the emergency hatch on the left side of the ship! As soon as we land, please hack into the security systems and plant the feedback loop bug. After that set me a nav point to the prison quarters." He ordered and Mercy nodded in his HUD.

"Understood. Already calibrating nav point and creating bug. Commence operation as soon as we make contact on the ship."

"Aye aye Mercy. Thanks a ton. Hear that Reaps?"

"Yeah yeah, barely though!" Reaper shouted. "I heard it! Let's get this over with, alright?!"

"Don't have to tell me twice! Prepare for landing!" Sparrow flipped in midair and brandished his katana. He flew himself close to the tail fin of the ship and stabbed the blade right into the side of it. The sword cut through the metal like butter and slowed the cyborg down before he finally came to a dead stop.

"Now that's how you land." Sparrow chuckled "You in, Mercy?"

"Affirmative agent Sparrow." the AI said. "Cameras are on a feedback loop and I took the liberty of highlighting any guards red so you can more easily see them."

"Thank you once more, Mercy. Now wasn't Reaper right behind-"

Sparrow was cut off as a black splotch splattered down next to him, sending misty disintegrating body parts everywhere. An irritated Reaper regenerated a few seconds later, but not before he shivered at the feeling of his cells coming back together.

"Fucking..." Reaper said with restrained anger. He took a moment and held up a finger. "I am never doing an op with you ever again."

"Eh you're fine."

"Kiss my ass"

"Can't. It always disappears." Sparrow snickered and Reaper's eye twitched.

"Oh, you think you're so funny. Cheek mother-"

"The Cellblock is five hundred feet dead ahead," Mercy interrupted. "Once you enter through the hatch, be warned. A guard is posted there so you'll have to get creative."

"Mercy, that's why I'm here, so we don't have to get creative." Reaper grunted before turning into smoke and fluttered through the narrow cracks of the hatch. A few moments later, choked cries from the guard could be faintly heard. He tried to let out a scream of help, but failed before he fell unconscious. Sparrow caught up to his partner, only to see Reaper over his victim while he tapped his foot.

"See? Easy as hell."

"I could've opened the hatch without him noticing."

"Sure you could've," Reaper said. "Now let's find our least favorite ginger." The two sneaked their way through the hall while staying on the alert for any sign of hostile activity. The two were lucky and didn't run into any personnel until they finally reached the cells. Their eyes widened at the unprecedented roadblock between them and their target.

"Well shit. Old Ironwood wised up and put someone on guard who can actually fight." Reaper said.

"I thought she had her own ship and personnel." Sparrow said with concern apparent in his voice.

This world isn't one-for-one like yours or mine. She's probably the only capable had the general has at the moment." Reaper said before he made sure his weapons were ready. "Needless to say, this'll be interesting." Reaper commented and Sparrow nodded in agreement. Standing outside of Roma's cell was none other than Winter Schnee, who was reading a book with an irritated expression plastered on her face.

"Looks like Roman's annoying the piss out of her." Reaper said, "So what's the plan, Sparky?"

"No...idea. Any ideas Mercy?"

"A few options. A simple distraction such as a small explosion-"

"I like the sound of that one." Reaper said immediately. Sparrow didn't need to see that Reaper was smiling under his mask.

"Of course, you would. You're a damn terrorist in your world."

"Another would be a straight confrontation." Mercy continued. "The chances of you two overpowering her are highly in your favor, but the chances of being compromised will rise as well."

Sparrow winced with irritation.

"The final option I have could be you showing her your clearance badge, Agent Sparrow. I have no hard data that the dimensional shift would alter your identification. It could work."

"We don't know if Ironwood has informed her about us though." Reaper said.

"Emphasis on the word, 'Could,' Reaper." Mercy said with a hint of sass.

"I see where you get your sense of humor." Reaper muttered.

"Alright, we'll try that." Sparrow said with a smirk. "Reaper, stick to the shadows and if she gets hostile knock her out with your smoke."

"Got it."

Sparrow nodded one last time and stood to his full height. He then walked over to Winter and put on his old Atlas persona that he couldn't help but miss a bit. Winter instantly noticed his approach and her hand fell to her blade, ready for a confrontation.

"You can stand down, Specialist," Sparrow said with all the professionalism he could muster. "Thank you for watching over the prisoner specialist Schnee, I'll take over your watch from here." Sparrow's show of authority almost shocked himself and made Winter flinch in surprise.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before." Winter narrowed her eyes still cautious at the stranger in front of her. Sparrow sighed and flashed his holographic credentials. The Schnee looked over them for a moment before finally relaxing and saluting him. He saluted back and walked past her a bit shocked that the plan had worked.

"Apologies, Agent...Sparrow was it? I had no idea a fellow higher up specialist was on the ship."

"Apology accepted, Specialist Schnee. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try my hat on making the prisoner talk." Sparrow walked toward the cell about to open the door when a saber tip was thrusted a centimeter away from his throat.

"You thought you had fooled me?" Winter asked with venom in her voice.

"Shit." Sparrow muttered while he heard Roman snicker behind him. "Honestly, yes." Sparrow replied to Winter.

"Please, I know who you are." Winter said with narrowed eyes. "The general had warned me about a rogue cyborg with your exact description and gave me orders to take you in if you ever showed yourself on an Atlas ship." she tilted her saber closer to his throat.

"Now, turn around slowly and put your hands up. I'd much rather do this without a fight." Winter threated as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He turned around and held out his wrists, letting her cuff him.

She was about to lead him away, but confusion took hold of her when the cyborg started to laugh. With a flick of his wrist, the cuffs laid in shambles on the ground.

"Did you really think I would let you take me in so easily? What did Ironwood tell you about me?"

"Enough...That you were a product of the genius Doctor Geppetto Polendina and went rogue after realizing you were now mostly machine."

"Hm..." Sparrow said while taking note that Ironwood was pretty good at lying. That or they were really working on another cyborg. "Well, Ironwood was half right. Too bad he didn't tell you something very important."

"And that would be?"

"I don't work alone."

Sparrow smiled behind his helmet as smoke shot out from behind him and gripped Winter's throat. The Schnee kicked her legs as she hung in the air, grasping at the limb that was driving the oxygen from her lungs. She gave out one final choke before finally going limp. Reaper gently rested her down on the ground before giving Sparrow a blank stare.

"What?"

"I could've done that without her seeing you. Now she'll report to Ironwood that she saw you and he'll come after us."

"Maybe," Sparrow said as he turned toward their objective. "But tell me Reaps, does Winter have actual proof of our presence? The security cameras aren't working and all he has is her eyewitness account. Unless she had actual evidence, he couldn't come after us even if he was one hundred percent sure it was us. Also, this served another purpose."

"And that would be?" Reaper questioned as Sparrow opened Torchwick's cell.

"That he needs to up his security so no one can sneak onto the ship." Sparrow looked at the lounging form of Roman Torchwick who watched the duo with a curious gaze.

"Now isn't this a surprise. Did the boss lady need me back that badly? Doesn't this go against her plan?" Roman gave off his devilish grin and the two Arcs gazed down at him without a word simultaneously rolling their eyes at the thief's confidence.

"Huh? You two deaf or something?"

"Oh, we aren't hard of hearing." Reaper said while he rolled his shoulders. "And to answer your question, Cinder didn't send us. We're here to kill you."

"Well. Talk about honesty." Roman said with a blink. "Or is it blatancy? Subtly? Eh whatever." he shrugged. "I would have gone under the guise of being one of the bosses' underlings, then take me out."

"I prefer the more direct approach." Reaper said with a grin.

"Ha! I'd like to see you two try it." The thief cockily stated, which caused Reaper to crack his knuckles "Oh! So, horrifying! Got me shaking in my cell." Roman mocked.

The cyborg only shook his head. "Believe what you want Roman, we know what you're planning to do. And we're not letting that happen."

"Foiled once again!" Roman mockingly surrendered. "I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling edgelords!" the criminal let out a hearty laugh. "Ahh. Honestly, you two remind me of Little Red. But you know… minus the obligatory violence. By the way, how is my special cabin buddy?"

Sparrow ignored him and his final remark on Winter. "So, Reaper, who gets to kill him?"

"Well, I didn't get to kill Taurus so I think it's only fair."

"True, alright have at it." Sparrow said before he smashed the lock, letting Roman free.

The two Jaunes stared blankly on as the thief rushed out of his cell and grasped Winter's saber. With a sharp yell, Roman immediately sent a thrust directly into Reaper's chest, plunging the blade down to the hilt with a sickening squelch.

"HA! Cocky bastards, thinking you could kill me? I'm a professional." he took a pause and looked down. "Why doesn't anyone take that seriously?" he shook his head quickly. "Doesn't matter, I'll just upload the virus on a timer, kill you both and get the hell out of here-"

Roman was interrupted with a sudden and powerful haymaker from Reaper, sending the thief down to the ground in an instant. Roman looked up in a haze, but with utter disbelief as he witnessed his opponent pull the blade out with no visual signs of pain. All while black blood stained the sword.

"And you're a moron if you think a damn toothpick like that could kill me." Reaper chuckled grimly. Out came the terrorist's machetes which scraped off the ground and sent sparks towards its prey, making Roman scramble back in fear.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there, fellas!" Roman said with a significant amount of surprise. "No need being all hasty, not like how the boss lady has been. I didn't mean what I said! I was just caught up in the moment, honest!" He pleaded as Reaper picked him up by the throat choking the life out of the thief. The psychopath was ready to plunge his blade into Roman's throat when something the thief said caught his attention.

"What was that about your boss, you piece of trash?" Reaper asked loosening his hold on Roman so he could speak.

"I...said that I'll give you any information you want, just don't kill me."

"Doesn't sound like a bad offer," Reaper said with contemplation. "But too bad for you Torchwick, we already know everything you have to offer. So, no point in delaying your end. Face your death with some dignity." He rose the machete high and Roman made him stop once more.

"Cinder's been acting weird lately alright?!" Roman shouted.

Reaper didn't care as he aimed to push forward but felt a metal hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on," Sparrow said. "Out with it, Torchwick."

"She and her two fucking pets have been talking to nothing! Literally nothing!" Roman exclaimed. "Neo's been reporting to me that they're talking to thin air and it seems like they've lost it! Even said that they had glowing red eyes at one point! Like yours! Can't tell me you know that?!" Roman begged and Reaper for the first time in a while was actually surprised and lowered his blade. He looked back at his companion with somewhat wide eyes.

"You don't think that that bastard is working with them, do you?"

"At this point anything is possible. If the King is truly working with Cinder than this isn't looking good. Let him go so the rat can speak." Sparrow ordered and Reaper complied letting the thief's throat go.

"Spill the beans, Roman, and we might work out a deal." Reaper commanded as Roman rubbed his throat before finally speaking.

"Neo told me that Cinder seems more powerful than she has before. That her flames went from normal looking to black and the other two seemed to have gotten more aggressive, left an absolute mess of a cell of insubordinate White Fang. I can get more info if you guys let me live, I swear."

The looked at one another before nodding in unison.

"Fine Roman, we'll let you live but remember this," Reaper brought the thief close red eyes boring into green, "My friend and I can kill you at any moment. On top of that we won't kill you quick either. It'll be long and drawn out so don't even think about double-crossing us. Keep communicating with Neo giving us updates and we'll end up killing Cinder for you." Reaper ended tossing Roman in an adjacent cell and locking the door, not wanting to risk a free Roman being alone with an unconscious Winter. Sparrow wiped his companion's blood off the saber and set it down next to Winter.

"Not a bad op Sparky. Think Arc is using his time productively?"

"We'll just have to see won't we Reaps?"

* * *

 **Again I'm so sorry for the long wait. Writer's block sucks ass! Read and review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to** **Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters! Fav and follow or I'll delete your fortnite account!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

"Re-Jaune's brow furrowed further than he thought possible as he fiddled with his scroll for the umpteenth time. After many trials and errors, he believed he finally fixed his problem.

"Alright Pup, mic check. Your earbud working?" John asked receiving a growl in response.

"Yeah I can hear you. Now let me concentrate! These air vents are tricky to navigate!" The puffball groaned while he made his way through the vents as best he could.

"Now you're gonna take a left then a right and you should be at the vent inside of Cinder's room." Re-Jaune said as he looked at a map of Beacon's ventilation system that he snagged before the mission began.

"Why are you having me do this again?"

"Intel gathering."

"Wait," Puppy Arc said. "Don't you already know what they're gonna do?"

"For the most part, yeah," Re-Jaune replied. "But who knows if Cinder changed her plans. That's where you come in. Treat it like a mission from Titanium Gear Solid."

"Then why didn't you give me a badass bandanna?" Puppy Arc whimpered in disappointment.

"Next time I'll give you a bandanna if it makes you happy."

"Yes!" He gave out a small yip before he made the final turn at the air vent John had directed him to. The pup peered his eyes close to the slits in the vent in order to get a good angle on the trio. His eyesight was poor, but he could still hear some voices.

"I don't get it Cinder," Mercury's voice was the first to emerge with clarity in Re-Jaune's scroll. "With Noctis's power, we can easily just cut this stupid attack short and go straight for the other half of the maiden." Mercury was about to continue before Puppy and Re-Jaune could hear a sharp noise as if he was struck. Puppy couldn't help but wince at the sudden snap.

"Mind your tongue, Mercury," Cinder hissed. Her voice sent fear through Puppy and anger through Re-Jaune. "Don't think this new power we were given is something to be wasted and used frivolously. Believe me, the thought of crushing that insufferable elder Arc for humiliating me has come to mind ever so often. But, we have our orders and must follow through with Noctis's whim." Cinder said with disdain that dripped of her tongue. "Besides, we still don't know where the maiden is."

"Holy crap. John, you hearing this?"

"Yeah, I am." Re-Jaune said while he kept his anger in check. "This is sounding freaky. Who the hell is Noctis?"

"I don't know, but I got a bad feeling about it."

"Dammit Pup!" Re-Jaune facepalmed. "Never say 'you got a bad feeling'. it always leads to the worst possible situation!"

"Stopping being so superstitious John. I'm stealthier than Borvo Battano!"

No sooner did the pup say this he accidentally broke wind, the sound resonated and made the trio of people all look at the vent in utter disbelief.

"Pretty sure Borvo Battano doesn't shit himself when he's trying to be stealthy." John commented. The pup growled silently in embarrassment.

"Did-did you hear that?" Emerald asked while she wafted her hand in front of her nose.

"Oh Oum above! I smell that! Jesus Em! You fatass!"

"Fat-? The hell are you saying?! I didn't fart! That noise came from the vent!"

"QUIET! Both of you!" Cinder snarled, which ceased their bickering. The false maiden made her way toward the vent, black fireball in hand ready to incinerate whatever broke wind in her presence.

'Shit shit shit shit shit!' Puppy Arc backpedaled as fast as possible, in order to round the corner. He was about to turn when a hand grabbed his scruff and yanked him into the room. His eyes met a dumbstruck Cinder who was looking the pup up and down.

"What in the...a puppy?" Mercury asked. "The hell is a puppy doing in the air vents?"

Jaune was frozen in fear, not wanting to be a roasted dog and started panting as any normal dog would.

"Isn't that RWBY's dog?" Emerald asked.

"Nah their dog is that stubby ass chubby corgi," Mercury said with snark. "This fella, on the other hand, is an unknown." Mercury looked at him with curiosity and poked the dog's snout. He immediately regretted his decision when the pup chomped down hard on his finger and refused to let go.

"AAGH!" Mercury shrieked.

"I think I like this dog." Emerald snickered.

Cinder narrowed her eyes at the scene before her. With malevolent intent, she sauntered over to her screaming minion who fruitlessly tried to pry the jaws from his finger. She swiped the dog by his scruff and reached into his ear and found his earphone.

"Well, would you look at this. It appears that this dog is bugged."

'Oh fuck.' Puppy Arc tried to squirm out of her grasp but the pyromancer refused to let go.

"Trying to escape little spy?" Cinder said with a sinister smile. A black flame manifested from her hand and danced between her fingers. She brought her hand dangerously close to Puppy Arc's fur while he still struggled with every bit of strength he could muster.

'John help!' Puppy Arc begged closing his eyes as the flame inched ever so closer to him.

*CRASH!*

Glass shattered as a hooded figure smashed through the window. His face was covered and the three servants could barely process his speed as he lunged at the captive pup. The figure's hands successfully grabbed Puppy Arc and he jumped right back through the ruined window. His eyes widened as he barely dodged the torrent of black flame that shot off right behind him.

"Holy shit! Someone got an upgrade!" the voice of Re-Jaune emerged from the hooded figure, much to Puppy's relief. The two Arcs smashed down to the ground and Re-Jaune wasted no time to sprint toward the cliffside, outside the Emerald forest. He looked behind for a brief moment to see Emerald and Mercury in hot pursuit, eyes glowing Grimm red which gave Jaune bad memories of the Grimm King.

'No way,' he thought. 'Why do they…Wait a minute...when they said Noctis.' He gritted his teeth and leapt off the cliffside into the dark forest below, air whipped at his hair and pushed aside Puppy Arcs fur.

"John! They're acting freakier than usual!"

"Think I didn't notice?! The red eyes kinda gave it away!" Jaune groaned wracking his mind for an idea. He knew they couldn't see him. He was already on Cinder's shit list and didn't need her to know more.

They crashed to the ground once more as Re-Jaune landed. He rolled with the fall with Puppy tucked towards his chest. Before the pooch could comment, Re-Jaune was already up and running once more. He ran for a bit before he came upon a clearing to a shocking sight.

"What the?" Re-Jaune asked.

"What?" Puppy said as he tried to wiggle his way to Re-Jaune's view. "What are you talking abou- Oh." Puppy said as he saw what Re-Jaune saw.

Dozens upon dozens of fading Grimm corpses littered trees and the ground alike. The area was devastated from the carnage while in the middle of it all was the panting Jaune Arc. His sword and shield trembled in his hands while he tried his best to catch his breath. The sudden snapping of twigs caused him to turn his head, only to look at John and Puppy, not recognizing the former because of the disguise.

"What the...What are you doing with my friend?!" Jaune yelled as brought up his blade. John immediately pulled the hood down.

"It's me, Jaune!" Re-Jaune shouted. Confusion overtook the younger arc as Re-Jaune came forward. "Had to have a disguise because Cinder's goons are after Puppy."

Jaune lowered the sword and sneered turning his back to the older version of himself.

"Jaune? What's up with you? Why are you out here this late at night in the Emerald forest?" Jaune was silent for a moment, refusing to answer the elder Arc. "Jaune, this isn't some resurgence of macho talk that pushed Pyrrha away, right?"

Jaune finally turned around with fury plastered across his face that threw the time traveler and the puppy off guard. "I'm pissed, John," Jaune said. "I'm pissed because this is my world and every time you and the other two go to try and change it, sometimes without my knowledge or opinion." Jaune emphasized the last part which made making eye contact with him hard to sustain. "I'm always left behind! Every single time without fail!"

"Jaune," Re-Jaune said with urgency. "I'm not trying to put this off, but we need to get out of here."

"No dammit! You're staying still for at least a minute! You owe me at least that!"

"Owe you?" Re-Jaune challenged?

"Taking my name, leading the Grimm King to Vale, telling my partner, MY PARTNER!" Re-Jaune couldn't help but feel a prick of shame spread through his heart. "That she was going to die, and then taking off to take out the White Fang! I bet none of this ever happened to you!"

"I never jumped in front of a dimension altering laser either." Re-Jaune heard the words fall out of his mouth. Before he could catch himself, Jaune gave him a hard shove.

"SHUT UP! You know I had no idea it would cause all this!" Jaune screamed. "I've tried to help. I've wanted to do nothing but to help all of you get home but you know what? I'm just Jaune Arc. The weakest out of the bunch not just to my friends, but to my selves apparently!"

Re-Jaune couldn't tell whether to feel shame for what he was being told, or fear for the three of them as his pursuers drew close.

"You know how bad it feels to be left behind! To be that IDIOT stuck in the TREE!" Jaune continued, much to Re-Jaune's dismay. "To be the one who always felt like a burden! You've been so narrowminded about saving my world you never took a second to stop and ask me how I could help! You just brushed me aside deciding that I was too useless and not strong enough to help! Well, I'm sick of it dammit!" Jaune let out finally panting hard. The time-traveler winced at every word his younger self said knowing every single one of them was absolutely true.

"Jaune," Re-Jaune said as he reached out for himself. "I'm...I'm truly sorry...I-"

"This way, Emerald! The brush looks to be more disturbed this way!" Mercury called.

"SHIT! Jaune! I'm sorry but I need you to stall them! I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but they can't see me!" Re-Jaune said.

"Wait, what?" Jaune asked but his older counterpart disappeared high into the trees overhead. Jaune by himself once again and before he could curse at everything that had happened, Emerald and Mercury barreled through the brush. Their gazes were frantic as they looked around wildly, eyes still red like the Grimm which made Jaune recoil in horror.

'What in the...those eyes...'

"Where did those two go dammit!? Fuck!" Mercury cursed before the blonde knight came into his view. Mercury zeroed in on Jaune and stomped toward his direction with rage that seemed to drip off him. Much to the blonde knight's dismay, Mercury got into Jaune's personal space, all while growling like an animal.

"Hey Arc, see any strange people run through here? Hunting down a couple of thieves."

"Not a soul except for Grimm." Jaune said after he took a gulp of air. "I've been training out here and haven't seen another person. Sorry." Jaune shrugged with repressed anxiety while Mercury and Emerald only narrowed their eyes. The green-haired thief circled around to Jaune's back as Mercury stayed in front of the Arc.

"Hey, no need to do something drastic here, you two." Jaune said with a nervous laugh. "I haven't seen anyone or anything. Honest." Emerald finally stopped moving and Mercury cocked his head to the side giving Jaune a downright sadistic smile that chilled all the Arcs present to the core.

"Honestly, I believe you Arc," Mercury said while his left eye twitched frantically. "But we came out here looking to punish someone and the someone isn't here so I guess you'll have to suffice!"

Mercury lunged with an overhead scissor kick right at Jaune's head. With a frightened yelp, Jaune got his blade up at the last second which caught his opponent's heel on the flat of his sword. The silver-haired assassin growled at his failed attempt of doing him in with a single kick.

Jaune pushed forward ready to counterattack when a chain wrapped around his throat and yanked him to the ground, all while choking the air from his body. His frightful situation forced him to look skyward into the trees. His eyes locked with Re-Jaunes who was gritting his teeth in rage looking like he was about to jump down to save him. He wanted him to save him. He needed to save himself. He needed help. He was a fool for trying to fight them on his own. He was a failure. He was going to die here while a better version of himself watched on. A stronger self, a more competent self. A self he always wanted to be.

Jaune hated that.

With a strained gurgle, Jaune's body glowed a brilliant white that enveloped the forest in light that blinded his opponents. Jaune pulled the chain hard, the sudden force yanked Emerald down toward him at high speeds, before she collided the pommel of Crocea Mors into the side of her face, knocking a tooth and the thief away in a single hit.

Mercury went wide-eyed completely shocked at what he just saw. Emerald stood back up on shaky legs as she tried to ignore the pounding in her head from the blow. She barely got her sickles up in time to block an overhead strike from the rejuvenated Jaune, forcing the thief back to her knees from the sheer force alone. Mercury rushed over and sent a roundhouse at Jaunes ribs sending the Arc flying into a tree with a mighty crash.

"Holy shit...where the hell did that come from?! You ok Em?" Mercury asked. His partner nodded shaking her head back in fourth.

"Yeah. Just..." Emerald's breath hitched as she heard a noise come from the area Jaune was kicked to. The two servant's breaths were ragged were tinged with fear.

Jaune was back up on his feet before spitting some blood out of his mouth. With a growl, he deployed his shield and had a tight grip on Crocea Mors. He knew all too well that he'd need both to survive this encounter while he stood ready for whatever attacks would come next. The duo made no move toward him, making Jaune anxious as the adrenaline rapidly and relentlessly pounded through him.

"What's the matter? Thought I was gonna be an easy target? Easy prey?!" Jaune roared as he took a step towards them both, making Emerald take a step back in fear and caution. Mercury gave Jaune a death glare not moving an inch before sneering and taking a step back.

"Cmon Emerald." he whispered. "No point in dragging this out and leaving Cinder waiting longer than we need to. He's needed for the future." Mercury glared at him before the two disappeared, leaving Jaune alone.

The blonde knight was still in a combat-ready stance, all while the white light still whipped around his body. Jaune finally let out an exhausted sigh before faceplanting into the dirt, completely spent. John landed next to him not a second later hefting him up by his shoulder.

"Jaune...what was that?" The elder Arc asked and Jaune chuckled giving him a tired look with a small smile.

"Don't you have it too?"

"What?" Re-Jaune asked

"It's...my semblance. I unlocked it while you guys were out fighting the White Fang," Re- Jaune and Puppy's eyes widened at the tidbit of information. "It floods my body with power. I can even will it onto another person making them even more powerful as well."

Something in Re-Jaune's mind clicked as they shared the same semblance, just altered in a way.

Jaune's head relaxed for a bit as he let out a dizzied groan. "The major drawback is that it leaves me completely drained. What do you think?" John had no words to say. Shocked at this new revelation.

'This is insane...my semblance hadn't kicked in this early and was always being able to heal people and myself with my massive aura reserves. Was it because of the laser he threw himself into? Did we change his power?'

"Well, I think it's insanely awesome! You literally knocked Emerald's teeth out! Need to get that semblance mastered and you'll be unstoppable!" Puppy yipped with excitement.

"Yeah...wait so why were those two after you guys?"

"I sent Puppy Arc in the vents to eavesdrop on them to gather info," Re-Jaune said with a glare towards the dog. "It was going well until this fluffball broke wind and compromised the mission."

"I couldn't help it! Pyrrha fed me extra bacon this morning!"

"So, I needed to quickly put on this disguise and save his mangy butt. Oh!" Re-Jaune snapped his fingers with his free hand. "I forgot to mention, Reaper and Sparrow are infiltrating the Atlas flagship to kill Torchwick."

"Wait what?! They're trying to take on Atlas?!"

"No, it's a stealth mission to assassinate Roman so he can't control Ironwood's ships and robots. Something he does in my timeline." Re-Jaune glared at the memory. "They should be back home now. Let's get you back to Beacon, must be exhausted."

"I'm fricking drained. I killed a crapload of Grimm and fought against two students." Jaune air quoted the last word of his sentence. "Can't report this either. There was no proof and it would expose you guys."

"Fair point." Re-Jaune said. "I'll get us home in a jiffy, hold on tight!"

(Back at Beacon)

"JAUNE! Oh my Oum, what happened to you?!" Pyrrha was cradling her boyfriend in worry smothering his face into her bosom holding him tight.

'Enjoy yourself Jaune. For those are the caverns of heaven!' Puppy Arc thought while entered the dorm room and laid atop Pyrrha's bed.

"I may have gotten him mixed up in one of my operations." Re-Jaune admitted. "I'm...really sorry Pyrrha." Pyrrha gave Re-Jaune an angry glare before she finally sighed and shook her head.

"I know you're trying to help us John but if you're going to get us involved please give Jaune or us some warning next time, ok?"

"Yeah! If you woulda told me about this I could of helped you break their legs!" Nora commented with her usual amount of insanity.

"I'll...take that under advisement, Nora," Re-Jaune said with a chuckle. "Anyway, have any of you seen Reaper and Sparrow come back yet?"

"They messaged us that they needed to fight through the Emerald forest to get back here. Should be back any minute since that was an hour ago." No sooner did Ren finish his sentence did the two aforementioned fellow dimension travelers walk inside JNPR's room looking completely beat.

"You two look like hammered shit." John chuckled earning a glare from Reaper and a sigh from Sparrow.

"Did you guys take Roman out them?" John asked and Sparrow shook his head.

"No actually. He gave us some choice info that proves Cinder works with the Grimm King. We agreed to let him live as long as he continues to funnel us info. Even said we could use Neo as long as her cover isn't compromised while working for Cinder." Sparrow answered quickly.

"No shit. I got intel using Puppy Arc here that Cinder and her goons have been powered up from the Grimm King just like what Roman gave you. And he agreed not to hack the robots?"

"He did. Bout made him piss his pants when I was about to blow his head off." Reaper chuckled darkly as Sparrow spoke again.

"We also wanted to send a message to Ironwood to increase his defenses and security. I purposely had Winter see me so she could report to him."

Re- Jaune rubbed his chin. "Not a bad idea. Good thinking Sparrow. Gotta say it's been a productive few days. We've accomplished a lot right before the festival has started and have dealt some major blows to Cinder's plans. Great job everyone. And Jaune, I promise from here on out you'll be a part of every mission we plan on enacting if you choose so. I swear."

"Arc's promise?" Jaune asked.

"Arc's promise."

John smiled and his younger counterpart smiled back.

Lurking in the shadows by the window a faint set of red eyes could be seen watching the group with amusement.

"Oh, my dear Jaune Arc. You only think that you've prevented the fall from happening when it's already begun. Once the dust has settled there will be nothing but ash, death and destruction."

* * *

 **Noble: Ominous huh? Hope you all enjoyed! Read, Review, Follow and favorite!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to** **Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters! Fav and follow**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

The cool Fall breeze that graced everyone throughout the kingdom of Vale came with a swift approach. Amber decorated the leaves as they began to droop in order to prepare for the winter. However, the sudden change in seasons did not affect the interdimensional travelers as they, along with Jaune Arc of the current world they resided in, stood about in JSPR's dorm room and waited for everyone to be present. Once all the Jaunes came back from breakfast, Re-Jaune nodded with determination and clapped his hands together.

"Alright," the time traveler started with a smile. "The Vytal festival starts today while the tournament starts tomorrow. With that being said, everyone here knows the plan, right?"

All Arcs in the room nodded in agreement.

"Ok good. Ozpin has taken care of our involvement in the tournament. We'll be called team JSPR,"

"Hehehe" Reaper chuckled at the name making everyone shiver in place,

"He also gave us badges that allow us all to go anywhere in the coliseum without restriction." Reaper picked up the discussion since no one else felt like speaking. "Each day the tournament goes on, one of us will patrol the entirety of the arena, making sure that there is nothing suspicious going on and checking for anything that could be of concern. Like planted explosives."

"Don't they already have security for that?" Puppy asked.

"They don't know what they're looking for, we do." Reaper replied.

"A part of me wants to give Ozpin or Ironwood the Intel we attained from Cinder and her team, but…"

"It would instill more panic and uncertainty within the ones trying to keep the people safe." Re-Jaune said. "It just means more Grimm to deal with in the long run. Besides, this is our mess, we got to take care of it."

"Wait," Jaune Arc said with a bit of uneasiness before he turned to Reaper. "She bombed the coliseum in your world?" Jaune asked which Reaper let out a huff.

"No, she didn't." he said as he looked away for a moment. "But with her being more aggressive and hostile than before with the Grimm King's power, we gotta be prepared for anything. Bitch might try something crazy since the Grimm King is obviously ordering her around, right Arc?" The terrorist looked at Re-Jaune who nodded in agreement.

"From the intel we gathered, the Grimm King called himself Noctis when Cinder was discussing plans for the Vytal festival. Noctis's goals are simple, to produce as much negativity as possible to form his body completely." Re-Jaune gestured to Reaper. "Reaper was the first one to witness Noctis at that lab and claimed the bastard didn't have a fully formed body. So, if we stop the fall of Beacon and the attack on Vale, there's no way in hell Noctis will be able to form. After that, we find a way to wipe his existence from the dimension completely so he never returns."

"On another note," Sparrow spoke up as he analyzed some data from the inside of his visor. "Ironwood has increased security even more so than before. Reaper and I breaking into his ship got the reaction we needed from him." Reaper held up a fist that Sparrow bumped with a smirk, knowing his masked counterpart was smirking behind his mask as well.

"With more reinforcements, the White Fang branch in Vale is destroyed, and Roman unable to hack the Atlas robots, Cinder is at a massive disadvantage. Even with Noctis assisting them I don't see how they can pull this off." Reaper commented as Re-Jaune started to speak.

"Agreed. Though, we need to stay on our toes. Keep completely on the alert and don't get sidetracked. Until this festival is over, we can't let our guard down not even for a second." No sooner did Re-Jaune say this Nora crashed through the door with a downright crazed grin.

"FEARLESS LEADER! THE FESTIVAL GROUNDS HAS AN ALL YOU CAN EAT PANCAKE COMPETITION!" Nora huffed loudly while Jaune recoiled in shock.

"Okay? Why did you need to tell me that?"

"BECAUSE RENNY AND PYRRHA WON'T COME WITH ME! SO, I MUST RELY ON YOU AS A PARTNER FOR THIS! COME NOW! THERE ARE PANCAKES TO BE DEVOURED!" Nora declared before dragging her leader away in a flash making the other Arcs blink for a moment wondering what in the hell just happened.

"That was random as all hell." Puppy murmured

"It's Nora Puppy, what do you expect? Random might as well be her middle name." Re-Jaune shook his head as a smile across his face.

"If we're done here, I'm gonna go train a bit. Make sure I'm sharp." Reaper stood with Sparrow looking at him.

"Want to spar?" The cyborg asked receiving a head shake in response.

"Nah, feel like doing some personal training on my own. Maybe another time, Sparky." He walked out of the room leaving his fellow Arcs behind.

"I'm gonna go check on Pyrrha, make sure she's ok. It was around this time Ozpin asked her to become the maiden and I'll be damned if I let him manipulate her." The time traveler left without another word.

"Well that leaves me and you with nothing to do." Sparrow and Puppy looked at each other before the dog tilted his head with amusement. "Wanna go to the fairgrounds and see Jaune puke his guts up?" Puppy inquired as Sparrow tapped his armored chin.

"Sure. I have nothing better to do, let's go pup." Sparrow scooped the pooch up and rested the fluffball on his shoulder making his canine counterpart bark in excitement. The cyborg smirked behind his helmet making his way toward the bullhead docks.

 **(Reaper)**

The terrorist made his way through the halls as best he could, but with all the excitement surrounding the festival, Beacon was packed and made it difficult to get through the hallways in a decent time. The cramped halls didn't help the worried gazes and glares that were being sent his way.

'Ah fuck this.' Reaper cursed before turning to smoke and flowed through a nearby air vent.

'If my memory is correct, the sparring rings should be close by since I'm going through the vents.' Reaper thought to himself as he made two rights and a left. 'And...bingo! There they are.' He phased down onto the ground materializing while holding back a gasp of pain, feeling his body ache at the impact.

'Dammit...still gotta get used to the pain again.' Reaper kicked his legs out a little and stretched in order to make the aching pain to go away. He sighed before finally feeling the discomfort leave.

'There we go, now time to train a bit.'

He walked over to the center console and inputted the settings he desired. Before he began though, he couldn't help but feel unwanted memories tickle the backend of his brain. None were of his time in his current form, but of a time when he looked flawlessly like his blonde counterpart of the world he currently inhabited. It was a time when he called this place his home as well.

Memories filled with smiles and friendships plagued his thoughts as his finger hovered above the controls. It hurt to think that those memories could never become his reality ever again. It hurt that everyone else would return to their friends and family with open arms, while he had a world of war awaiting him.

Reaper knew he had Sombra and Amelie to rely on and he wouldn't admit it to his current team nor his team back on his earth, but he missed them dearly and worried about them. It didn't matter what his title was, The Reaper, Psychopath, Terrorist, or even Failure. What Reaper did know, was that little part of his soul that cared for his team remained.

Reaper closed his eyes as the physical and mental pain began to seep within himself. He took a few breaths before he opened his eyes and realized he had his hand over the controls for a few minutes. With one last breath to shrug off the memories, Reaper began to type away.

'Max skill level, high aggression, and while we're at it let's have twenty of them come at me. Got an idea for a new smoke trick.' He smirked in pleasure when the request came through and the bots rose from the storage racks each one wielding a different myriad of weapons. The closest one wasted no time charging directly at him without hesitation. Reaper glared at his opponents and growled a bit in order to summon his shotguns.

'Sloppy.' Reaper shook his head as he sidestepped the bot and bisected it in a single strike from his machete, sparks erupted from the mechanical carcass and showered everywhere. A trio of bots came at him in unison, one with a flail spun at speeds so fast, Reaper could barely see the odd weapon, another charged with two knives, while the final one charged in as well with a mace which reminded him of Cardin.

The psychopath ducked under the flail then immediately phased underneath the knife bot before materializing from underneath it and pulling the trigger on his shotguns. The bot exploded in a million pieces sending machinery and metal everywhere like a grenade.

Reaper rolled back onto his feet just in time to block a strike from the mace bot, nearly buckling from the force of the impact.

'Stronger than I thought,' Reaper thought as the memory of Cardin fighting him way back when ripped through his mind. Reaper's breath hitched as he stumbled back and phased through one of the machine's strikes.

'It's just a machine.' Reaper suddenly shifted his shotgun back into a machete and retaliated with a strike of his own, which made the bot stumble forward right into his palm. The terrorist picked the machine from off its feet grunting a bit from the weight and slammed its head into the ground without mercy, shattering the bot's cranium completely.

Reaper had no time to recover from his finisher as the flail bot swung and its weapon. Much to his surprise, the flail found itself around Reaper's arm, making the terrorist grit in pain as the spiked ball impacted his skin making black blood leak onto the floor.

"GRAAGGGH!" Reaper roared in fury pulling the chain toward himself before reeling his arm back in anticipation. His clawed fist smashed through the metal chest of the bot making it sputter and stop moving.

He looked at the final sixteen robots all while he breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, allowing his smoke to wash over each one. The bots started to run at him as one before stopping and shaking, struggling to move even a step forward. Reaper panted a bit from the exertion, due to moving so much of his smoke over such a wide area. Nevertheless, the smoke moved up the bots bodies, moving as if it were a snake strangling its prey. Once the smoke reached the necks of the bots, Reaper let out a growl and in one swift motion, the smoke decapitated all sixteen robots without mercy.

Reaper broke his concentration and felt the smoke return to him. He took in several deep breaths and felt as if his lungs were on fire. He looked down and while he couldn't see his bare arms, he could feel how light they were due to the lack of muscles and tendons he felt. The familiar weight of his arms came back momentarily as the smoke returned to his form.

'It's a powerful attack,' he thought to himself as he got back to his feet. 'Being able to kill so many in one swift move but it does spread my smoke thin.' He placed his thumb at the bottom of his mask as he looked at a few of the robots strung about the arena.

'If I target fewer enemies and use the ability subconsciously in unison while fighting normally it'd be a force to be reckoned with.' He turned around to start a new wave but stopped immediately upon seeing Velvet Scarlatina at the entrance of the training room. Reaper rose an eyebrow beneath his mask as he noticed how she stared at him with a bit of awe. Her camera rested in her hands.

'Ah shit. She saw me fight like that.' He didn't care much for witnesses, but anyone loyal to Ozpin would be a problem as he knew how much anyone from Ozpin's circle loved to pry in other people's business. He knew Velvet wasn't one to pry, but he also believed parallel universes didn't exist. Look where that got him.

He walked up to her as nonchalantly as possible. He stopped a few feet away from her and waited for the faunus to speak to him, but realized she was too focused on the pictures she took of his fight.

"Ahem." Reaper cleared his throat, which made the skittish student yelp with surprise.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I was just…" she paused, which made Reaper tilt his head to the side. "It was really an amazing show."

"A bit of spectacle is just what I need for my opponents. Keeps them intimidated." Reaper replied with folded arms and a blank stare. Even if Sombra wasn't present, he was still criticized on his fighting style.

"Well I hope it works during your time in the tournament," Velvet replied with a smile, but soon faltered as she realized what that meant for his opponents. "I mean…"

"I understand," Reaper said as he held one hand up. "Despite its capabilities, I'm only using it to stun my opponents during the next few days."

"That's a relief," Velvet said as she relaxed and shifted her weight over to her left side. "My sister told me what happened to the people that had her held up in that warehouse."

"They were a different story. From what I know, none of the contestants are hardened criminals nor terrorists," Reaper said. "You can rest easy knowing I have no intention on hurting mostly anyone."

"Mostly?" Velvet asked anxiously.

"My team has to win the tournament somehow." Reaper said. Velvet chuckled at his banter and Reaper couldn't resist the urge to smile under his mask. It was nice being able to talk to people who weren't him selves, RWBY, or JNPR. There were no pestering questions, no world-altering news, nor were there any revelations within his team's past. It was a relaxing feeling that Reaper hadn't felt in a long time.

"What brings you here?" Reaper asked as he headed over to one of the benches with Velvet following close behind. They sat down with a good few feet apart from one another, all while Reaper could feel his body tingle and ache all at once.

"Training just like you. I don't like to be here when there's a lot of company." Velvet held up her camera with a smile.

"That's your weapon?" Reaper asked with intrigue. When he thought about it, he didn't really know much about Velvet on his world.

"Yup," Velvet said as she held up the camera for him to see. "It may look innocent enough, but it has its surprises."

"Hope your words hold promise if we're ever pitted against one another." Reaper said with reassurance. Velvet nodded with gleeful determination.

"I mean your weapon alone would make you more than a challenge," Velvet gestured towards Reaper's attire. "That has to be a lot of dust you're implementing in your cloak."

Reaper rose an eyebrow beneath his mask and couldn't help but chuckle at her remark. To her confusion, Reaper brandished his two shotguns that shifted into machetes moments later. "Not a speck of dust in my weapons or on my person." Reaper couldn't get enough of the realization that appeared on Velvet's face.

"The smoke was your semblance?!" she asked with disbelief. "How?! It feels like you had to have some dust used to control it like that. How do you even remain conscious when you dissipate completely? Can you even dissipate entirely? Does wind direction affect y-?!-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Reaper said as he put his hands up at the overload of questions. "Pump the breaks there just a bit."

"Sorry!" Velvet yelped as her ears flattened against her head.

"You certainly thought of everything when it came to my semblance." Reaper said with a stifled laugh at the sudden enthusiasm he had never seen before from Velvet; even before he became Reaper.

"I study semblances and the way people act on the battlefield, so I tend to look into every detail on how one fights and how their semblance works." Velvet said as she refused to make eye contact with Reaper.

"Those were good questions," Reaper said as he looked out onto the empty arena. "To start, I can dissipate into nothing but a black smoke, but I have to stay congested. I can't spread myself too thin, as you saw when you arrived." he looked back to Velvet to see her attention was focused on him once again. He then pointed two fingers forward to emphasize his point. "Secondly, wind does affect my movement a bit, but I try to use it in my favor. If I can't, then I remain as solid as I can."

He then added another finger to the other two. "Thirdly, it acts a bit on its own when I fight. Any and all harm inflicted on me just phases through me most of the time. Despite it being small, it does have a reaction time and if someone is fast enough or catches me completely by surprise, they can have a chance to land a hit. That's about as much as I know." Reaper finished as he folded his arms with content.

"Wow, that's quite the advantage." Velvet said as she jotted down a few things on her scroll. "Must be hard to lose."

"Well the never-ending pain that comes from your cells breaking down twenty-four seven is a bit of a detriment." Reaper cocked his head to the side and sighed at the cold reality of his situation. He knew it was a bit of a dream come true when Pyrrha flooded most if not all of her aura into him during the attack on Beacon in his universe.

"Your cells decay?" Velvet asked with concern as she leaned forward in her seat to make eye contact with him.

"And regenerate constantly." Reaper fell silent after he added that fact and looked at his hands. A thought came over him with a furrowed brow a few moments later. He turned to Velvet and propped his elbow on his knee so he could place his chin onto his palm. "You know, you're already living up to what you said a few minutes ago."

"How so?" Velvet asked perked up with concerned confusion.

"Innocent looking, but full of surprises. Here I am spilling the secrets of my semblance to a potential opponent. Some things I haven't even told my team." Reaper couldn't help but grin at the blush that formed on Velvet's face. He added potential flirting to his mental list of things he regretted not doing or not being better at during his time before he turned into what he was.

"I mean," Velvet put her hands up in defense. "I was just curious. Honest!"

"Uh huh." Reaper said and he knew Velvet knew he was smiling underneath his mask. "I got to watch out for you during the tournament. You may know too much as is with my new moves as well."

"I- But-Wait!"

Reaper got up from his seat and patted her shoulder. "Take it easy, Velvet," Reaper said. "I hope the info helps." Velvet shrank a bit in her seat as she looked away with embarrassment.

"Thanks, Jaune." Velvet said before she clasped her hands over her mouth with wide eyes. She looked over to Reaper who had stopped in his tracks with wide red eyes.

"Shit." Velvet swore in a rare moment, Reaper turning around eyes glowing more brightly than before.

"What did you just call me?" His voice barely going above a whisper. He made his way over to her.

"I- I mean-!" Velvet tried to explain as she began to shake more with each step Reaper took toward her.

"Explain." Reaper ordered with such a voice that made Velvet Regret opening her mouth in the first place.

 **(Puppy and Sparrow)**

"I...I'm at a loss for words right now..." Puppy said with awe.

"No matter how many times you see it, it never gets old." Sparrow said as he looked on at the sight. Puppy stared alongside Sparrow who was nodding what they both just witnessed. Towers of plates were stacked to the ceiling while Nora sat in her seat with gleeful content on her face.

"Ah that was a good snack! Now time for round five!"

"FUCK NO! YOU ATE EVERYTHING AT MY STALL!" The head chef roared with such a pent up anger that made Puppy yip with fright.

"But it said all you can eat! I'm not done yet!" Nora said as she pointed to the sign.

The chef closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "All the other competitors dropped out two courses ago! You're done! Now leave my stall and never come back!"

"Shenanigans! I call shenanigans!"

"Nora...You ate every pancake he had made...Time to stop." Jaune was barely able to get out the words he needed to say, due to his stomach being bloated and looking like he'd throw up at any minute.

"GAH fine! You win this round pancake man! But I'll be back!" Nora promised before hauling Jaune onto her shoulder who could only groan at how sick he was feeling.

"Well it was at least entertaining! Huh, Sparrow?"

"Yep. It was, wasn't it? We should follow them to make sure Nora doesn't make jaune even more-' Sparrow was interrupted when suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, Sparrow jumped a bit in surprise and spun round ready to confront the person in question. The person who stood before him cocked her head slightly to the side all while smiling mischievously. She sported black hair that was styled into two pigtails.

"Ma'am," Sparrow said with a formal tone. "Is there something that I can help you with?" He noticed her smile and what it implied before the cyborg took a breath of frustration. "Ma'am, while I appreciate your forwardness, I am spoken for."

This made her only grin even more before seeing her hair change to pink brown and white making Sparrow's eyes widen in terror.

'Oh dear' Sparrow thought as he realized who she was. 'Have to find a way out of this! Think dammit!'

"Sparrow?" Puppy whispered as he nudged the Cyborg's leg. "What's up?"

The moment he looked down at Puppy, a moment from his favorite show growing up infiltrated his memory. With a breath and an internal apology, he cupped Puppy Arc in his hand and chucked the poor dog at Neo. He then turned around sprinting in the opposite direction leaving a massive amount of dust behind.

"SPARROW YOU ASSHOLE!" Puppy screeched as he sailed past Neo who dodged the pup with ease. Yelps and surprised screams erupted through the crowds as Puppy rocketed through the grounds. The mute simply smiled before licking her lips and disappearing with a shatter of glass. She didn't mind hunting down her prey.

 **(Re-Jaune)**

Re-Jaune basked in the brisk wind, yet closed his eyes with relief as the fall glow still retained its warmth as he strolled across the somewhat vacant Beacon grounds. Warm would be the definition of what he felt at the moment. He physically felt warm and ready for what was to come, but he couldn't help but feel a warmth he hadn't felt in a while. The joy that came with the festival as well as the countless smiles that occupied everyone's faces made him feel nostalgic to an almost infinite degree.

It was a feeling that had almost been lost to him. If he had the chance to tell himself at the end of it all, when his fight with the Grimm King was over and he was bleeding all over a tree trunk in the Forever Fall, that he would be able to relive all the good and prevent the tragedy, he probably would have spit a wad of blood in his face.

Re-Jaune chuckled at the thought as he turned the corner of the Beacon mess hall and stopped dead in his tracks. The sight before him wasn't nostalgic, but it did bring back unwanted memories. His gaze remained fixated on Pyrrha Nikos, who was sitting by herself along the bottom part of the mess hall. This was the beginning of the end. The sight before him was the origin of a long list of bad mistakes and regrets throughout his life. It was when he unknowingly told her to save the world at the expense of losing herself and in the end, her life.

"Hello." A voice called out to him which made Re-Jaune snap out of his saddened state. Pyrrha was the one to notice him first this time.

'I'm not this world's Jaune.' Re-Jaune thought as so many mixed emotions churned inside his being. Nevertheless, he took a breath at walked towards Pyrrha.

"Hey," Re-Jaune said with a voice that was forced to be casual. "Catching some sun before the Winter comes around?"

"It's one of the few quiet places around at the moment," Pyrrha commented as she looked forward with a gentle smile. "Despite my team's antics, I prefer the quiet. It helps me think when something's on my mind." Pyrrha finished as she looked to the older version of her partner with a knowing glance.

Re-Jaune's eyes widened at what she had said. His hands shook slightly, but enough for Pyrrha to notice. "Did Ozpin want to talk to you?"

"He did."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I'm not the one he's looking for."

A weight was immediately lifted off of Re-Jaune's shoulders as his legs nearly buckled at the news. He looked at Pyrrha to see she had a smile that wasn't false or hid any emotions, it was genuine without a remnant of regret.

"So, you told Ozpin no?" Re-Jaune asked as he sat down next to her. The champion said nothing. Instead, she nodded. "Thank Oum Pyrrha." He couldn't help but laugh as happiness surged through him. "I would've told you to say no but you already beat me to the punch!"

Pyrrha smiled at the exuberant nature Re-Jaune emitted. "Your journal detailed that experience very specifically in relation to how I died." His laughter died then and there as she mentioned that horrible moment in history. "That if I didn't believe in destiny, I would still be alive and you partially blamed yourself for causing my death saying what you said."

"I did blame myself." Jaune said with a slow nod as he gazed forward. "I still do."

Pyrrha leaned forward with a bit of curiosity. "The journal also mentioned you trained to a video I recorded to help you if I was away. Was that really true?"

Re-Jaune looked down with a sad smile. "I trained every night since you…left." He said while being careful with his words. "I took Akuo, head piece, and the broken parts of Milo to modify my weapons. And I trained every single day." He let out a breath and gestured forward to the conversation they were having.

"That…" Jaune paused before he looked at her. "This, Pyrrha, was easily my greatest failure. It still haunts me to this day." His hands clenched with anger. "I may have gotten this second chance, but my mistakes from the past still plague me. Tomorrow is when I make up for my mistakes, it's where I change everything and do the right thing."

"What will you do after this is all over? Go back to your dimension?" Her brow furrowed at the last word. "Or is it just your world? Universe? Gosh, I haven't really thought about it."

Jaune chuckled at her rambling and put a hand up to calm her. "Yes, I need to fix my own world, I'll hopefully be sent back to where I was before, right when Beacon started."

"It's hard to believe this adventure with you and the other Jaune's is almost over. It'll be hard to see you go." Pyrrha gave him a sad smile before she leaned in and wrapped Re-Jaune in a tight hug.

"Live your life Pyrrha. Be happy with the Jaune of this world and continue on."

Pyrrha nodded and tightened her grip on him, reaffirming herself from his words. Swearing silently to be happy and live her life with Jaune. "Do you mind if we sit here for a bit? I do enjoy the warmth."

Re-Jaune smiled at the request and parted from the hug. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

 **(The next day)**

"Can I refrain from competing?" Sparrow asked sheepishly. The other alternate Jaunes gave Sparrow a puzzled look as they were readying themselves for the oncoming battle.

"Why's that?" Reaper said with a smirk under his mask. "Still scarred from your time with Neo?" Reaper chuckled at the memory of walking out from his conversation with Velvet, only to see the Cyborg run for his life while a pigtailed, woman skipped gleefully after him.

"Shut up Reaper! She tried to do unspeakable things to me!"

"You deserve whatever she did to you!" Puppy yelped as he let out a high-pitched bark. "You chucked me like a furry cannonball at her!" Re-Jaune grabbed the weapons he needed and shut his locker before he turned toward the conversation.

"What DID she do and how'd she subdue you?" The time traveler asked as he leaned back on the lockers and folded his arms. "Last time I checked you're stronger than Neo."

"Crazy midget stuck an EMP grenade onto my ass when she had the chance to slap it." Sparrow said with an embarrassed demeanor. He glared at Reaper who chuckled at the image. "The charge went off and fried my systems for an hour or so. I was able to fight her off barely"

"Correction Agent Sparrow," Mercy said as she appeared in front of everyone with a polite smile on her face. "The EMP only lasted for fifteen minutes. You only pretended to be docile so she would-!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP MERCY!" Sparrow screeched as he deactivated Mercy.

"Language." Reaper said with a fit of laughter.

"Oh ho ho!" Puppy said with snark. "Someone wanted to smash eh? I'm gonna tell Pyrrha you cheated on her! Hahaha!"

"Fuck off!" Sparrow said with a embarrassed glare. "Nothing happened! I'm going to take my anger out on whoever is my opponent!" Sparrow said as he sheathed his swords and made a note to see if a virus had been implanted in Mercy. "Let's get this shit over with!"

"Once again, language." Reaper said while they made their way to the arena entrance. Sparrow sent him a glare, to which Reaper shrugged at. "Irritating, isn't it?

"Everyone!" Port announced over the arena intercom. "Please welcome our contestant's Team JSPR and Team BRNZ!"

Cheers echoed throughout the arena resonating around the coliseum while the two teams emerged only for the excitement to escalate with a rumble of anticipation.

"Well this is kinda ironic," Re- Jaune said while they faced the other team. "This was the team JNPR faced in my timeline."

"Well, now they get to fight a cyborg, a time-traveler, a terrorist and a talking puppy." Sparrow muttered before he brandished his wakizashi and shuriken. Reaper did the same pulling out his machetes while Re-Jaune pulled out his basic boring sword.

'I gotta get an upgrade.' Re-Jaune thought. 'If only they saw my loadout when I was on my way to Beacon."

Puppy growled and showed his teeth for intimidation. Once he got the opposing team's attention, He let out a howl for the ages! Which only made the crowd coo in joy and laughter.

"Wait...why do they have a puppy as a team member?!" A member of BRNZ asked in bewilderment.

"It's his semblance and he's got a hard time turning it off." Re-Jaune said at the exact moment the buzzer went off. "Also, think fast!" Re-Jaune blitzed forward, slamming his left fist into the poor boy's jaw which sent him flying out of the arena in mere moments.

"And team JSPR takes an early lead immediately eliminating Brawnz Ni with an out of bounds!" Port boomed with surprise. The roar of the crowd escalated at the sudden turn in the match.

"Oum above how is he that strong?!" one of the remaining members said while his whole body trembled.

"GRRR." Said member turned to the source of the growling, only to see the puppy had spuared off in front of him.

'Oum above thank you for an easy opponent!' he thought before he let out a brief breath of relief.

Puppy Arc growled once more at his response before lunging and chomping down on his opponent's forearm.

"GAHH! OW OW OW O-" He was cut off with a swift neck chop from Sparrow, knocking the poor boy to the ground in a single hit with a bit too much force.

"Aw shit. Hit him a bit too hard...forgot these are just first years." Sparrow muttered as he looked on at Puppy who continued to jerk at the unconscious student's forearm.

"A brutal final strike to put down and eliminate Nolan!" Oobleck said with intrigue. "Impressive teamwork between the two team members!"

"He made the mistake of thinking I'm an easy fight! Also, who the heck fights with a cattle prod?!" Puppy growled in frustration making his cyborg friend chuckle.

*BOOM*

A sniper rifle crackled immediately making Sparrow leap in front of Puppy. His efforts bore fruit as he deflected a bullet that was aimed for the pooch.

"They have a sniper...Reaper!" Sparrow called out to his teammate who was laying down suppressing fire with his shotguns.

"Already on it." He spoke over the commotion before phasing towards his intended target. When he arrived, the final two members of BRNZ we're together hiding in a tree.

'Oh hohoho. This is gonna be fun.'

"DAMMIT! He blocked another bullet! Is that his semblance or something? Roy hand me another mag...Roy?" May Zedong turned around to see her partner being choked by an unseen force. With wide eyes, she spun her rifle around to find the enemy.

"Behind you." Reaper whispered making May scream before being silenced by his smoke as well. The two struggled before finally going limp, which led them to fall to the ground in a heap.

"And it's over!" Port exclaimed with excitement. "An overwhelming victory for team JSPR! Representing Beacon with such pride!"

"That was it? That was a bit too easy." Sparrow sheathed his blades while he strolled toward the exit with his counterparts."

"It's fine that it was." Re-Jaune said as he looked over to Reaper and Puppy. "Gives us more time to patrol. Sparrow and I will go into the doubles rounds, that ok with you two?"

"It is," Reaper said with folded arms. "Don't need people getting more creeped out about me any more than they already are. I'll take first watch and search the entire place from top to bottom."

"Sounds good." Re- Jaune said with a nod. "We'll get ready for the next bout, it'll be soon."

From the stands sat Cinder Fall staring down at her enemies knowing all too well that they had thwarted most of her plans, but she wasn't defeated yet. If she could get John Arc to give off enough negativity the battle would be hers to win pleasing both Noctis and her queen.

"I will not fail my lord Noctis."

* * *

 **Been too long I know. Read and Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to** **Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters! Fav and follow! I changed the final part a bit courtesy of Masseffect-TxS to make some additions to the chapter.**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

"SUCH AN AMAZING FIRST ROUND! Wouldn't you say, Barty?" Port boomed along with the excitement of the crowd moments after the last round of the preliminaries.

"Absolutely Peter!" Oobleck exclaimed with the same exuberance. "The teams that have moved forward did a marvelous job utilizing teamwork, skill, and dedication to seal the win!"

"Couldn't agree more Barty! But their efforts will really be put to the test now that the contestants are in the doubles round." Port looked at the roster for a few moments before he pointed outward dynamically. "Now! Time for the start of the doubles round with our very first match being John Arc and Sparrow of team JSPR, versus Penny Polendina and Ciel Soliel of team PSSN!"

The crowd roared as the four contestants made their way once more to the center of the stage. John could see that Team RWBY and JNPR were watching them with unbridled cheer, to which he waved at. Moments later, his gaze shifted to the right and all happiness died within him as Cinder watched him with nothing but intrigue.

"Hey," Re-Jaune snapped out of whatever funk he was in and looked to his teammate with confusion. Sparrow had his head tilted and despite his helmet covering his face, Re-Jaune could tell he was concerned. "You okay?" Sparrow asked.

"Yeah." Re-Jaune said before he nodded his head. "I'll be okay."

The two Arcs stood across from Penny and Ciel with a calm aura surrounding them. They watched Penny bow and Ciel simply stood next to her unemotional as if she were a robot. Re-Jaune chuckled at the irony, considering Penny was one. The time traveler tilted his head to the side shortly after as a thought entered his head

"Hey Sparrow," Re-Jaune said. "Have you ever seen Soliel fight?"

Sparrow blinked at the sudden question and turned to his time-traveling counterpart. "Nope. You?"

"Never." Re-Jaune shook his head. "All I remember is she just stood there while Penny obliterated Russel and Sky."

"Then how about you take Soliel?" The cyborg suggested. "I want to do a little test with Penny."

"And what would that be?" Re-Jaune asked while brandishing his basic sword.

"Simple my good friend," Sparrow crouched a bit and took a breath. "To see what is better a machine with sentience or a cyborg."

"BEGIN!" Port boomed.

Sparrow flashed away the instant the buzzer rang out, Leaving Re-Jaune to roll his eyes and chuckle with amusement.

Penny's eyes widened in shock as she was barely able to bring her blades up in time to block her opponent's initial strike. The Impact from such a small blade surprised her as well.

"And JSPR's cyber warrior rushes in with such energy!" Oobleck commented with excitement while the crowd shared his sentiments.

"Good reflex's Penny." Sparrow spoke while his blade clashed against Penny's plethora. The robotic girl's legs quivered from the sheer amount of force, all while she tilted her head.

"Apologies...stranger...but I don't recall knowing you!" Penny struggled with Sparrow's strength for a few moments. After the shock wore off as well as a short mental assessment, Penny nodded her head and pushed her aggressor back.

'This is not good! I must analyze the make of his limbs to find weak points!' Penny thought before starting her scan of Sparrow as quickly as she could, a second later and data started flowing through her mind.

'Wait...what? Impossible! His limbs are made with the same craftsmanship as my father! I must find out more! I must dig deeper throughout this fight!'

"Are you spacing out? Don't get distracted!" Sparrow roared kicking Penny's legs out from underneath her with a low sweep.

"Gah!" Penny shouted out of more surprise than pain. Despite the surprise, she was able to bring her hands up to block Sparrows following strike.

The attack batted her aside and with the help of Sparrow's wakizashi, sending the girl careening toward the edges of the arena. Sparrow wasn't finished with her yet as he sprinted forward in order to secure a ring out. However, Penny had other plans.

The Atlas Android stabilized herself midair and stabbed her blades into the ground in order to stop herself. She utilized her recovery to its fullest as she charged up her beam energy. Due to how aggressive her opponent was as well as the confusion on the cyborg's identity, Her priorities shifted to try and end the fight as quickly as possible. Penny smiled moments later when she was informed that her energy beam was fully charged.

ZHOOOOMM!

The beam shot straight at the cyborg. With the correct angle as well as her quick nature to launch her attack, Penny was sure it was going to be a direct hit. What Penny didn't expect was the sudden synthetic roar that came from her enemy moments before the beam was shot back at her. She rolled out of harm's way by mere millimeters and looked up to see Sparrow's blade glowing red as if it were stuck in a blacksmith's forge.

'Full analysis complete.' Penny looked up to the top corner of her HUD. 'Opponent, Jaune Arc, cybernetic limbs created by Geppeto Polendina, threat level MASSIVE.'

'Even my internal computer confirmed his limbs were created by my father but his name is Jaune Arc? Isn't that friend RWBY's friend?!' Penny thought as she tilted her head like a confused puppy.

Sparrow took advantage of the still moments between Penny and himself as he took a few breaths before he readied his blade once more. Only to have a notification from Mercy appear in his peripheral vision.

"Mercy?" he whispered before he pondered if Mercy was even legal to use in a tournament setting. Perhaps she could be qualified as a weapon?

"Agent sparrow, I've identified her neural scanners being activated. It appears that Penny did an analysis on you. She is aware that your limbs were made by her father and knows of your identity."

Sparrow's eyes widened at the revelation. "Shit...I'm gonna have to end this." the cyborg looked over to his partner to see Re-Jaune finishing his end of the fight with little challenge. 'Luckily John already knocked out Ciel so I can focus my full attention on Penny. I'm surprised at how tough an opponent she is, with the right upgrades she easily could be a huntress level warrior but for now,' Sparrow took a breath as he reached back and grasped his katana. 'She'll have to settle for losing this fight!'

The lights across his body grew brighter with each moment until they were almost blinding to everyone in the arena. Sparrow unsheathed his Katana and flashed behind Penny so quickly, only the most experienced huntsman could've seen it. He sheathed his katana starting to walk away from Penny toward the exit. The audience grew confused not understanding what happened before seeing Penny's aura plummet to the red and the girl in question fall to her hands and knees.

"And with that stunning display, Team JSPR is on their way to the finals!" Port announced with pride. The audience reacted in kind at the awe-inspiring display of power.

"I...lost." Penny said as her hands quivered "This sensation I'm feeling...is this what father calls...disappointment?'

"Penny." A voice crackled through her head puzzling the poor girl even more.

"Who-?!" she gasped at the sudden voice in her head.

"I know that you examined me and saw my limbs were made by your father. Meet me at the docking area of the arena so I can explain this. Don't speak to anyone else. Especially Ironwood. Thank you."

Penny tilted her head once more as she looked on at the Cyborg, who was exiting the arena with his partner. The two high fived as they continued on, leaving Penny torn between orders from the General, and a feeling within her that wanted to pursue the mystery behind her opponent.

"What did father call this feeling?" Penny asked herself as she sheepishly made her way to her partner.

 **(Cinder)**

While the crowd boomed on with the cheer they've retained throughout the entirety of the tournament, one person remained silent and felt the complete opposite in regard to JSPRs recent victory. There was a combination of anger, bloodlust, and a tinge of fear within Cinder Fall as she sat in her seat with her legs crossed and a narrow gaze at the exit Re-Jaune went through.

'Interesting.' She thought. 'He easily crushed any opponent in his wake, assisted in the slaughter of the White Fang and I'm fairly certain that he was that masked individual who saved the mutt since the same dog was a teammate with him.' Cinder's grip on her chair tightened ever so slightly at the list of accomplishments the elder Arc had.

'He knows more than he lets on but he's also very predictable. If someone he loves has their life threatened,' Cinder chuckled as she opened her scroll and pressed a few keys. 'Then he will become ripe for Noctis' picking as well as remove a very annoying thorn from my side.'

 **(Reaper and Puppy)**

The enthusiasm of the fairgrounds wasn't something Reaper wasn't entirely fond of, but he had no need to complain as he strolled through the crowds while basking in the blood orange glow of the Vale sunset with Puppy on his shoulder. This wasn't his world, nor was it a world that needed to be exposed to the horrors in his life. That fact was the foundation for his pleasant attitude as he scanned the crowd for any and all irregularities.

"You'd think you'd be uncomfortable with all the staring." Puppy whispered in Reaper's ear.

"Well, every kingdom in this world doesn't want me imprisoned or dead, so I don't mind." Reaper replied. "Besides, I doubt anyone would object to my aesthetic."

"Got me there." Puppy said with a cute shrug. "So, do you see anything yet?"

"Other than John and Sparks winning? Nope." Reaper nudged to the nearest screen to show that they indeed achieve another victory.

"How about that." Puppy said with a happy bark. Usually, Reaper would be annoyed at how close the bark was to his ear, but he simply let out a breath and shook his head.

"We've been on this route for about an hour. Pick up a scent yet?" Reaper asked.

"There's something." Puppy said after a few whiffs in the air. "It's faint, but in that direction." Puppy said with a nudge to the left.

Reaper stared blankly in the direction of Beacon's Mess Hall before he glared at the dog. "If this is an excuse to raid the pantry…"

"Honest!" Puppy said before he raised his right paw in the air. "It's weird. Dirty I think." Puppy said while Reaper's stare remained consistent. "Not like that, you Dingus! Like actual dirt. Soil. Manure even!"

"Manure?" Reaper asked.

"Yep. It's got a signature scent. I mean, haven't you've gotten a whiff and just wanted to roll arou-!"

"Mess Hall. Got it." Reaper said, not wanting to hear the rest of the puppy's story. He pulled out his scroll and pressed a few keys before pocketing it almost immediately.

"Message to that girl working with Roman?" Puppy asked.

"Nope," Reaper said. "She sends us updates. Not the other way around. I'm regrouping the rest of our search party."

Puppy tilted his head at the masked terrorist. "I thought it was just us." he said.

"You thought wrong." Reaper said as they stopped at the front of the Mess Hall. Reaper put his hands in his pockets and began to look around in all directions much to his partner's confusion. After a few minutes, Reaper turned to his left and waved to the person in question.

"Thanks for meeting on short notice." Reaper said.

Puppy turned to the direction of his partner's informant, only for his eyes to widen at Velvet Scarlatina, who was approaching him with a friendly demeanor.

"No problem at all." Velvet said with a smile. "I'm just happy to help." she then looked at Puppy for a few moments before her eyes widened as well. "Is he another Jaune?!"

"Yep." Reaper said with folded arms.

Puppy was in the midst of having a non-lethal heart attack. His eyes bulged outward and his mouth gaped open at the sudden revelation that Reaper just blew their cover. It took a few moments before Puppy darted his head to Reaper, then Velvet, then Reaper again.

"REAPS! WHAT THE HECK!" Puppy shouted before yipping frantically in his ear.

"Relax." Reaper said as he grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck and set him down. "She's with us."

"I didn't know he could talk!" Velvet said as she crouched down and held her hand out to Puppy. Only for the pooch to ignore her as he was running frantically around in circles.

"John is going to kill us! John is going to kill us!" Puppy shouted with panic.

"Wait," Velvet said as she earned the attention of both Reaper and Puppy. "Is Jaune's older brother actually…"

"Yup." Reaper said.

"DUDE!" Puppy barked.

"And that cyborg?" Velvet asked.

"Uh-huh." Reaper said with folded arms and another nod.

"Why are you like this, Reaps?" Puppy said as he fell on his stomach with his legs sprawled out in all four directions with exhaustion. "Why do you do the things you do?"

"Because she's been helping us all day, and I promised her some answers as payment." Reaper said, to which Puppy perked up.

"Say what?" Puppy asked.

"Can I see the photos?" Reaper asked.

Velvet wasted no time in walking up to the masked man with her camera in her hands. "I will let you know I can only scan a few people a day. It overheats easily and I could lose all my progress."

"I'll only ask to scan any that really stand out." Reaper said as he leaned closer to Velvet in order to see what pictures she took, but not before he grabbed his furry partner and placed him on his shoulder, so he could see as well.

"Okay," Velvet said. "There were a few that stood out, but not much. Just Mercury and Emerald. You mentioned that they are targets, but nothing stood out. Cinder Fall was another target, but just like the others, she's just been sitting idle and going through the motions of the tournament." The faunus pointed to the last few photos she had. "This was concerning though."

"He's not a threat." Reaper commented at the disgruntled figure of Qrow who was leaning over an outdoor bar. "May look concerning, but is on our side."

"I see." Velvet looked at the photo with disdain before she showed Reaper the rest.

"Wait!" Reaper said with a hitched breath. "Scan that one. Now!" He growled at the image before him of a figure lost in the crowd. He was covered in a dark cloak and had what appeared to be a horned mask on his face, but his posture itched at Reaper. There was a familiarity to it that made his fists tighten.

"I saw him throughout the day," Velvet said. "Came off as a carnival performer and stuck near the faunus. Quiet fellow, but I took pictures nevertheless."

"It can't be." Reaper whispered. He looked on at the photo and saw that the scan was complete, only for his crimson eyes to narrow at the name.

"Adam Taurus?" Velvet asked as she examined her camera. "That can't be right. I thought he was taken out by huntsmen a little while ago. That's what the news said."

"He was." Reaper growled.

"You think Noctis…" Puppy asked before he and Velvet's ears twitched. "REAPER! GET DOWN!"

Reaper did what was instructed as he dove forward towards Velvet and winced at the sudden slice through his back moments before he grabbed her and tackled her forward. The two tumbled for a few moments before they recovered near the foliage of the Mess Hall.

"You okay?" Reaper asked as he looked down at Velvet, who nodded. The two got up to their feet and looked toward the source of the attack only to reel back in disgust at the sight of Adam Taurus. His body was contorted, yet armored beyond belief with bone plating. His sword remained the same, but his mask with contorted horns was the finishing touch to the monster before them.

"You were one of them." Adam said with a raspy voice before he pointed his sword at Reaper.

"Jaune?" Velvet asked with trembling fear in her voice while she looked up at Reaper. She was no stranger to Grimm, but this… this was an entirely different monstrosity.

Reaper closed his eyes as he realized he forgot the last time he responded to someone calling him by his real name. "Velvet," Reaper whispered with such urgency. "Take Puppy. Get any huntsmen you find. I don't care if you have to bring Ozpin. Just get anyone."

"Reaper!" Puppy objected. "We're not just going to-!"

"GO!" Reaper roared with a borderline demonic voice as he threw Velvet and Puppy behind him before he brandished his two machetes. There was no objection as the fear that pulsated through both Velvet and Puppy urged them to sprint in the opposite direction, only for cries of battle to haunt their enhanced hearing.

 **(John)**

Re-Jaune scratched his head at the awkward scene before him as he looked across the docking area of Amity Arena. Sparrow and Penny were conversing with each other and if the time traveler could describe the scene before him, it would be something out of science fiction. The two just stood lifelessly in front of each other with no semblance of movement from either party. He believed they were probably communicating through other means, but the numerous concerned glances being sent their way didn't help them.

"Well. I should just leave them be." Re-Jaune said to himself. "Sparrows a grown man. He can take care of himself." Jaune said as he brushed himself off and began to wander around the arena. There was a different cheer that wasn't amongst the fairgrounds. There was an electricity in the air that smelled of battle and triumph. Re-Jaune couldn't get enough of it.

"John!" the time traveler in question perked his head up and turned to the source of the voice "John!" He rose an eyebrow at Pyrrha Nikos, who was sprinting toward him.

"Pyrrha?" he asked with concern as she stopped in front of him. "What's up?" his concern only grew with each moment she took to take deep breaths.

"You need to see who's battling who in the single rounds!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she looked white as a sheet with wide eyes.

"Pyrrha," Re-Jaune said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I know fighting Cinder in the singles round will be difficult, but I'll be there to step in if anything happens. You know that." Re-Jaune gave her a reassuring smile. His smile dissipated as she looked more annoyed than ever.

"Oh for Oum's sake, look, John!" She shoved her scroll in his face.

Any calmness that was within Re-Jaune ceased as he looked on at her scroll. He grasped it with shaky hands and refused to blink at the upcoming match between none other than Cinder Fall and Jaune Arc.

"I thought you said you put your name in for the singles round." Re-Jaune whispered with a simmering rage.

"I did!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "Then we see this!" Re-Jaune looked up to see that Pyrrha was afraid. It was a fear he never wanted to see in her again. It was a fear that ate away at him every sleepless night. It was a fear that fueled his fury."

"That fucking bitch!" Re-Jaune snarled while his temper flared. He knew there would be a change and despite being in a different universe, Cinder knew how to get at him. She knew how to get under his skin.

"What do we do?" Re-Jaune's fury was cut short as he looked back at Pyrrha who was worried beyond belief. He took a few breaths before his shoulders relaxed. Right now, Pyrrha needed him; not his anger.

"We need to find Jaune. I have a plan."

 **(With Re-Jaune and Jaune)**

"You saw it too, right?" Jaune asked as he, Pyrrha, and Re-Jaune stood within the locker room that lead to the arena. "I thought Pyrrha was going to be in the finals. That's what we agreed on."

Re-Jaune looked on at his younger counterpart with soft eyes. Jaune was sitting down on a bench. His hands were interlocked with each other in a tight grip while his right leg wouldn't stop bouncing up and down. There was little comfort to be had as Re-Jaune nodded his head.

"She's going to try to kill me, isn't she?" Jaune asked. Re-Jaune nodded once more as he refused to deny Jaune the truth of the matter.

"What are we going to do?" Pyrrha asked as she sat by Jaune's side in an attempt to calm him down.

"Nothing." Re-Jaune said with a flat tone and folded arms.

"What?!" Both Jaune and Pyrrha shouted. Re-Jaune put his hand up to silence both of them.

"I'm getting straight to the point Jaune, I'm not letting you fight her." Re-Jaune took a breath. "That's why I'm going to fight in your place, I know you will hate that I'm barging I won't let this happen to you too. I'm sorry, but I can't." John closed his eyes waiting for Jaune to argue. To shout or scream in protest.

"I agree with you, John."

"Jaune there's no need to argue-wait what?" The elder Arc said hastily before immediately stopping.

"I said I agree with you." Jaune said as he stood up. "You're right, I shouldn't fight Cinder because it would serve no purpose other than me getting my ass kicked and who knows what the crazy murderer has in store for me. Besides," He put his hands on his hips and looked at his older counterpart. "After what she did to Pyrrha in your world, I wouldn't mind seeing you get some payback." Jaune smirked before he looked up at Re-Jaune as if he was staring at an older sibling.

"Alright." Re-Jaune said with a calm smile. "Then I'll get changed. Jaune, you got extra clothes?"

"Yeah, I do, you'll need to wield Crocea Mors too. So, here." He handed the old pair of weapons to Re-Jaune who stared longingly at the old heirloom. It had been a while since he wielded his old weapon with no modifications, no added metal from Pyrrha, no fancy Atlas tech, just plain old Crocea Mors. It filled him with a warm wave of nostalgia as he gripped it with determination.

"I'll make sure not to break it. I'm gonna get ready," He looked to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Pyrrha can go back to the stands and Jaune, switch into my clothes to pose as me to not raise suspicion." The two of them exited without objection, leaving Re-Jaune by himself.

'This is it. I counter whatever madness Cinder has planned and stop it here. No matter what, this ends tonight.'

(Finals)

'Jeez, there are more people here now than there was at the start or the doubles rounds. Gotta get in the right mindset for this though and be prepared for anything. Who knows what Cinder has in store.

"Welcome all to the final round of the Vytal festival tournament! What a tournament it has been, but tonight is what all of you have been waiting for! For our first bout, it will be Jaune Arc of Beacon!"

Cheers erupted when his name was called, Re-Jaune stepping onto the stage already having deployed Crocea Mors.

"Versus Cinder Fall of Haven!"

Not as many cheers sounded when Cinder was introduced but the murderer ignored it sashaying her way onto the stage sporting a vicious smile that dripped with malcontent. The two stared one another down, Cinder's eye filled with murderous intent and Re-Jaune filled with silent rage.

"BEGIN!"

The two stood still, then finally started walking toward one another Cinder sporting no weapon using the maiden power and dust as per usual.

"This is quite entertaining Arc. You are such a caring brother, aren't you?" She mocked seeing the ruse.

"I have no idea what bullshit you're spewing Fall."

"Isn't it obvious? I know you're not Jaune Arc, you're his brother, John. The older more powerful Arc who didn't want to see his precious little brother by the same woman who humiliated him. How noble of you."

"Oh well, it was worth a shot. But it got me where I wanted to be. So, think about what you want Fall. But I'm going to enjoy crushing you." Re-Jaune readied himself adorning a combat stance ready for anything.

"You will try." Cinder taunted before unleashing a torrent of black flame at the Arc.

Jaune saw the attack coming from a mile away, knowing that Cinder would want to make a show of force and power. He channeled his semblance into his leg and smashed a foot into the arena floor unlodging a massive chunk of stone large enough to block the powerful attack. The flames spilling over the edge as the heat melted anything else around the stone.

Re-Jaune pushed the stone aside, the rock smoldering a blistering red and melting from the extreme heat. He, however, showed no sign of shock or fear making Cinder grind her teeth in frustration.

"Was that supposed to scare me? I know your master gave you some sort of power, but it doesn't matter what he did, I'll still defeat you regardless." Cinder glared before chuckling her same arrogant laugh that tipped him closer to the edge.

"You're a fool to underestimate me, ARC!" Cinder rocketed forward propelled by her flames and brandishing twin dust glass swords ready to eviscerate her foe.

Re-Jaune brought up Crocea Mors and parried one blade away, completely shattering it from the force of his blow, making Cinder gaze in shock before regaining her composure sending the other blade at him as well. He blocked it with his shield glancing the attack away from him and spinning behind cinder sending a brutal blow at her head with the shield.

Cinder smashed into the ground hard growling in pain and rolling away from Re-Jaunes follow-up strike. Blood dripped from her nose and a large bruise covered the left side of Cinder's face. The Arc stood across from her, showing no emotion.

'Just like Lord Noctis said, he is more skilled then he lets on.' She looked over to the stands before smirking and back to the Time Traveller. 'Time to switch tactics.'

"You know Arc, I was thinking. When my master razes this city when he unleashes the horde of Grimm and obliterates your futile Beacon, how much pain will you be in? I reckon it will be a sight I will cherish in my memories." He shook his head.

"That's not gonna happen Cinder. We already stopped the White Fang, Roman, and your hacking attempt. You have nothing."

"Don't I? We'll see about that. But I guess the first thing I'll do is kill that Nikos girl, or better yet! Why don't I force her into Ozpin's machine and make her duel me to the death with the power of the maiden? Then you can watch her die like the failure she truly is…" she asked as his grip on Crocea Mors tightened as aura started to leak out from him.

"I don't care what your intent is, I'm going to stop you here and now." He growled as his aura began to leak out of him, subtle cracks forming in the ground beneath his feet. She chuckled in response. A small ball of black flame charing behind her back as she grinned.

"Prove it, show me how you have any hope of defeating me, let alone my Lord. But I doubt you can, after all. My Lord has told me of how you failed in the 'past' whatever that means. So how will you fail this time…Loser!" Cinder fired a concentrated shot of fire, taking him by surprise, and impacting Re-Jaune's chest hard sending him flying. The Arc hit the ground hard air forcing its way out of his lungs while Cinder continued speaking.

"Do you think I don't have contingency plans Arc? My master told me you were the greatest threat that he had ever faced. But Seeing this, I know I can handle you. But I will make you suffer before the end comes. I will torture your younger brother until his mind breaks, rip your companions apart with no mercy, butcher Pyrrha Nikos. And after all of that I was thinking about taking a trip to a quaint little town called Ansel, have you ever heard of it? Such a nice little place, home of the Arc family...it'd be a shame if it was swallowed by a swathe of Grimm."

A vision filled into his mind, his home reduced to ruins, his parents nowhere to be seen aside from the smoldering remains of weapons and a home he could never return to. A row of graves across a hilltop before a setting sun, and the image of the King flying away.

Re-Jaune's eyes blazed bright icy blue as aura exploded like it had last time, he saw Cinder. Only this time, the pressure caused the whole stadium to shake. And the stadium lights to explode.

'What in blazes!" Port yelled out as the glass window of the announcer booth cracked from the strain. The pressure was extra thick in the arena, as Cinder bore the brunt of his anger. This time she was not forced to her knees, but still struggled to stay upright. He didn't know why his emotions we're going wild, but he knew it had to be because of Cinder.

"Don't...ever...threaten my family!" He roared as he shot forward faster than ever before, driving the tip of his shield into Cinder's stomach making the false maiden spit out blood.

The Arc wasn't finished grabbing the back of her head and headbutting her with the force of a freight train. She stumbled backwards trying to regain her bearings but Re-Jaune wasn't having any of that.

Before she could stand, a boot planted itself into her face as she toppled back further. Her vision blurring as blood dripped down her nose. A hand grabbed her by the hair, as she was forced to her feet, only to lose the sensation of gravity as she was pulled by her hair and tossed clear across the arena. It looked as though she would fall off the edge, but suddenly he was there, grabbing her by the foot and pulling her back in.

Only to have his fist smash her face and the back of her head struck the ground and spread cracks all across the floor. She groaned in pain, attempting to summon more of her master's power, only to feel a swift quick in the gut that sent her flying across the arena.

Re-Jaune glared as his aura shrouded his form like flames. His grip on his ancestral weapon straining from the pressure as he started casually walking towards her.

She managed to get herself on her knees as she looked to the man walking towards her. And with fear and rage on her side, she launched a torrent of black flames from her hand and shot it straight at the boy. His body consumed in flames as they spilt over the edge and impacted against the barrier of the arena.

"Jaune!" his friends and teammates yelled as the flames continued to pour out of her. Cinder grinned as she continued her onslaught, hoping to end the threat once and for all…

Only for a hand to shoot out of the flames and grab her by the wrist.

Her eyes widened in terror as the hand forced her arm up and cut off the flames, revealing a perfectly intact John Arc, as his body literally glowed with his aura. Not a single scratch of burn mark anywhere on his body as he glared at her and held her off the floor.

"That…was a mistake." He gripped her wrist as the bone snapped and she screamed in pain. But another kick to the face shut her up, as he walked over to her.

She barely got the chance to breathe before a hand grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her up into the air. Two blue eyes glaring into her soul, was all she could feel from him was pure rage and a promise of a painful death…

And that filled her with dread.

he then pummelled her without any mercy. His fist impacting again and again and again and again, into what could only be described as a swollen face of flesh, blood, and tears. The cheering in the crowds had long gone silent as the onslaught continued. The troops that were supposed to stop the fight were too scared to move as his aura held them back with fear.

Cinder fell to the ground completely battered, bones were broken, mouth bleeding and moaning in pain.

"The match is over! Cut the feed!"

Re-Jaune ignored Port planting his boot onto Cinder's chest constricting her breathing. "Y-you…you can't…I-I"

"I don't care what happens to me. This isn't my world and I don't belong here…but I am going to kill you, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" he held the blade above his head as Cinder pleaded for her life. "FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE! MURDERER!"

"JAUNE!"

A voice called his name as he halted just an inch from her throat. A deafening roar he had only heard once before pierce the air and shook the entire arena. The battered body of Sparrow impacted the ground in front of Re-Jaune, sparking in multiple places, lights flickering on and off.

"Sp-sparrow?!"

 **"Jaune Arc...I must thank you."** A voice more sinister than any other reached his ears. Re-Jaune turned around slowly to see what looked to be a Grimm version of himself. **"You never fail to disappoint me, old friend."** That voice, Re-Jaune could never mistake it.

"Noctis...no, Grimm King." He growled with more hate than he could have ever given off against Cinder as the Grimm King only grinned.

" **In the flesh"**

* * *

 **Noble: And the shit hits the fan.**

 **Sparky: YA THINK?!**


	16. Chapter 16

Noble: Alright! Here's a new chapter! Thanks again to Masseffect-TxS, SparkyDapperDab19 and Blaisengfire. Read and Review! Also, if you like the story, fav and follow to keep up to date for new chapters! Fav and follow! I changed the final part a bit courtesy of Masseffect-TxS to make some additions to the chapter.

Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth

Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc

Masseffect-TxS: Restart

SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow

Noble4259: Being Human

Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19

* * *

Any and all peace within the Beacon mess hall was ruptured and torn to shreds as Reaper was thrown through one of the massive windows. The crashing of the glass that came with the impact grated against his ears with an aggression that matched Adam Taurus who refused to ease up on his relentless speed.

Reaper growled with frustration as he soared across the vacant mess hall with only moments to spare before impact. The terrorist managed to recover without an issue held no hesitation as he brandished his shotguns right at Adam who was hot on Reaper's tail.

"All this time here, and you've carried power like this?!" Adam questioned with ferocity in his footsteps. "This is what the Grimm carry with them always?! You're the expert. TELL ME!" Adam roared as he readied his sword.

There was no time to comment or swear at his predicament as Reaper let loose shell after shell at Adam, only for the undead faunus to absorb the impact within his sword while remaining consistent in his pursuit. Some of the pellets grazed and peppered Adam's skin, but much to Reaper's horror, the faunus' skin began to dissipate, just like his.

"Crap." Reaper said. There was barely enough time to react as Adam sent the pent-up energy within his sword right back at Reaper. The energy consisted of nothing but black mist with swirls of sharp, sinister, red.

Raw instinct within Reaper kicked into overdrive as he dove to the side and dissipated into a pool of black smoke. Reaper winced at the sharp he energy blast from Adam singed the tail end of his smoke stream. Any other reaction from Reaper was cut short due to the blunt impact he felt within his core that reverted him back to his physical form.

"What?!" Reaper shouted with disbelief as he angled his eyes upward to see Adam had landed a solid flying side kick into his chest. The sudden surge of strength that came from the faunus sent Reaper soaring once again, but with a much quicker descent to the floor. Reaper soon felt himself tumble through the hall and into a group of tables with intense velocity.

"Uuugh." Reaper said before he shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. The hooded Arc proceeded to fix his mask while looking up at his adversary. There was a hitch in his breath as Adam slowed his pace and held up his dissipating arm for Reaper to see.

"One and the same, Reaper." Adam growled while he stalked towards the dazed Reaper with his sword scraping against the smooth flooring. "I have Noctis' gift as well. Don't think your smoke can save you." The scraping of his sword ceased as he quickly readied himself in a twisted battle stance and bolted Reaper's way in a red and black stream of smoke.

Reaper was barely able to kick up one of the disarrayed tables for a last-minute defense due to the remnants of panic firing off around the edges of his brain. His breath was ragged as he struggled to get up, only to fall back as the table was sliced down the middle. Reaper took the millisecond he needed to shift his shotguns into machetes and greeted his opponent in kind.

"RAAGH!" Reaper was relentless with his rapid and rabid strikes. He took any weakness he could find, any openings he could see, and any ground he could gain. The only problem there was nothing to his advantage. The Adam he fought on his world was just as fast, but he couldn't take any of the hits. This Adam was an entirely different story.

Reaper and Adam traded quick and ferocious blows without any hesitation and every direct hit on either party caused streams of smoke to leak out of them. Reaper ignored each and every slice with ease, while he noticed that Adam was having a more difficult time keeping it together. Every cut caused him to wince or flinch at the new sensation of regeneration.

'Gotta keep the pressure up. Gotta be faster!' Reaper thought before he roared with a fury he hadn't felt in a while. The smoke surged within him as black clashed with black and red. Blades sparked against each other as screams and roars that begged for murder emitted from the two demons. With one last swing from their barrages, both opponents clashed their blades together, emitting a shockwave from the impact that phased through the both of them.

"Oooh I could learn a thing or two from you," Adam said with a sultry tone in his voice. "I can tell you've been like this for a long time."

"You're insane." Reaper growled back as the pressure from Adam was equal to his.

"Pot meet kettle. Or in this case," Adam lowered his gaze to show the glow of his red eyes between the slits of his bone mask. "Monster, meet demon." Adam said before he slipped into his smoke, causing Reaper to fall forward. The Grimmified faunus used his opening to release the pent-up energy within his sword to send a shockwave right into Reaper's back.

"AAAGH!" Reaper screamed as he flew forward and into another pile of tables and benches. The pain seared within him before it spread all over his back. It burned and carved into his decaying skin with a malice he had only felt the night he became who he was now.

Reaper let out a pained grunt as he rolled onto his back onto a calamity of broken tables and benches. The ringing within his head continued onward with a relentless intensity as well as the wound along his back, but neither stopped him from noticing the menacing silhouette of his foe who stood above him. The tip of Adam's sword gently danced across the chin of Reaper's mask as the faunus sneered at the outcome of their battle.

"You should really learn to appreciate what our Lord has given you." Adam growled.

Reaper tried to dissipate once more but was stopped as Adam stomped directly on his sternum. A short cry escaped Reaper but was soon followed by the masked Arc striking Adam's leg over and over. Reaper could see the pained look Adam gave him, but there was no relief from the pressure that built up over the agonizing seconds.

"But he told me what you are. Instead of embracing what you should be, to you and use his power for him and only him, you squander it on helping those beneath you. You defy Noctis and resist everything he's given you." Adam said as Reaper continued with his fruitless attacks. Adam looked on with cold hatred before he flicked Reaper's mask off his face, revealing a panicked and deteriorating Jaune Arc. His skin drooped from his face, making his red eyes wider than they could possibly be. The rest of his face deteriorated to his muscles, and then to nothing but his skull before the smoke swirled back to repair his face.

"Such a waste." Adam said before he rose his sword above his head. "Such a failure."

Reaper's breath hitched at those words as his eyes flashed sapphire for a moment. His eyes that were always filled with aggression and rage were quelled by the icy torrents of fear. Such words brought him back to all those times he felt the same gaze Adam gave him in those moments. The hatred fueled the fear within him. It was a fear that deep within himself, he knew Adam was right. Weiss, Yang, and Blake were right. Reyes was right about him all along.

Thoughts of his teacher, Gabriel Reyes, raced through his mind as the hooded Arc could only picture what he thought of him now. He would say that he was weak to let someone like Taurus win, especially since he killed a weaker version of him back in his world. He would spit some taunts or insults his way, mention that he got the upper hand the moment he let the bull fucker into his head.

That last thought within Reaper's mind eased his fear for a moment as he looked up at Adam and couldn't help but feel a wave of déjà vu overwhelm him. He was here before and the moment his eyes reverted back to their crimson hue, he remembered how he came out on top the last time he faced Adam.

"Funny," Reaper said as he spat a wad of smokey blood toward Adam. "Blake would say the same thing about you."

Reaper rose his decaying lips into a smile the moment he saw Adam freeze at the mention of Blake. With those lingering moments of hesitation, Reaper let out a breath before he dissipated and sunk into the pile of destroyed tables.

"RAAAGH!" Adam roared as he swiped through the pile with a newfound rage, all in order to find his prey.

"Brothers forbid if she could see you now." Reaper's voice echoed all over the darkness of the mess hall. Adam looked up and darted his head in every which way; all while his breathing became ragged. "She thinks you were a monster before?" a long low whistle pierced through Adam's ears as he snarled at the insult. "Hoooo boy, wait until she gets a look at the clusterfuck that is now you."

"She'll understand," Adam retorted with gritted teeth. "I'll make her understand."

BLAM!

A shotgun blast erupted from the darkness which sent pellets right through Adam's left shin, tearing bits of flesh and muscle away from the bone.

"AAAGH!" Adam screamed as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg in the process.

"Little tidbit about this 'gift' you oh so adore," Reaper's voice returned with a malicious edge. "That aura that used to protect you? It's gone. You may be stronger and you may be able to survive fatal blows, but you got to be able to take the hits if you want to win any fight. Blake could take you on now and still come out on top."

"She wouldn't have the nerve to fight me."

BLAM!

"RAAAGH!" Adam roared as he rose his blade and angled it at just the right time to deflect most of the following pellets that were sent his way. Emphasis on most as a good cluster embedded itself within his shoulder.

"Heh. Yeah, she would," Reaper said before letting out a chilling chuckle. "She's been killing Grimm as long as she could hold a weapon. How would you be any different? You're not a human to question her morality,

BLAM!

Another round clipped Adam's lower torso.

"You're not a faunus that could question her beliefs.

BLAM!

Another round into the center of his back.

"You're not even an entity like Noctis, Salem, or even Ozpin that could reconsider her place in the world," Reaper finished as he reformed himself right in front of Adam. His mask was still removed as he bore into the wounded monstrosity with shame and remnants of pity. "You're just a mistake that got a second chance at the cost of throwing away everything that made you who you were before." Reaper's voice grew soft at the end as he looked down at his own hands.

"Stop…" Adam said between rabid breaths before he staggered to his feet. He held his sword with a weak grip as Reaper's sad eyes bore into him. "STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Adam charged at him with whatever strength he had left and swung his blade outward in a horizontal fashion.

Reaper's eyes hardened at the oncoming attack as he ducked beneath the slice before popping up with an uppercut, only to follow the strike with two more crosses to Adam's bone plated face. With a ragged breath, Reaper grasped Adam's horns tightly and yanked his head directly to his oncoming knee, snapping Adam's horns off as well at the mask that covered his horrified face.

"AAAAAAAGGGHHH!" Adam screamed with an agony Reaper had heard too many times before from himself and his victims.

The decaying Arc looked on at Adam who clutched the areas where his horns were supposed to be before he shook his head. "What a disgrace." Reaper said as he walked up to Adam with broken horns in his dissipating hands.

"Out of everything that's happened right now," Reaper said as he gestured to the fight they just had. "What I still can't believe is that you see this," he then gestured to his smokey self. "As a gift." Reaper's eyes narrowed after he said what he needed to say and twirled the horns so the pointed ends were aimed forward. With one last breath, he thrusted the horns forward and into Adam's eyes, causing the abomination to scream with every bit of voice he had left within him.

Moments passed as the screaming continued until Adam crumpled to the floor. Bits and pieces of ash broke off his corpse until all of his limbs were completely gone. Only Adam's torso and head remained; complete with anguish and horror written all over his face.

Reaper looked on at the body for a few more moments as something came over him. There wasn't any anger aimed at Adam, but there was something else as he branded the image before him permanently within his mind. There was no hate towards him either.

There was only sorrow.

Any and all thoughts that raced through Reaper's mind were cut short as a spotlight shined down on him through the broken window. He looked up to see a bullhead circling the damaged mess hall with an urgency he couldn't help but chuckle at.

Moments passed by as Reaper let the smoke recover any serious wounds he took throughout his fight before he grasped what remained of Adam and headed out to the front of the mess hall. The light shined on him almost instantly before the Bullhead landed. Reaper couldn't help but smile at the sight of Velvet once the passenger doors opened. Confusion overtook him however as he noticed Velvet's relief mutate into unadulterated horror. Realization replaced his confusion as he reached up to his face, only to feel his eroding flesh.

Reaper wasted no time in summoning his mask from the smoke and placing it upon his face. Even if it was for a short while, he missed the security it brought him. There were no words to be shared as he boarded the bullhead.

"Take us to the fairgrounds," Reaper ordered at the pilot before he tossed Taurus' corpse to one of the corners of the small ship. "When we get there, get out. I'm taking this thing to the coliseum." the pilot was moments away from objecting before Reaper gave him a look that begged him to test his authority. Silence overtook the pilot before he grumbled and began to lift off the ground.

"Where's puppy?" Reaper asked as he looked around the ship, only to see Velvet present.

"He's at the fairgrounds looking for your friends." Velvet said quietly as she refused to make eye contact with him.

"Sounds reasonable." Reaper said as he folded his arms.

"How did it happen?" Velvet asked suddenly. Reaper looked up to see that she was doing her best to keep her gaze on him.

It was Reaper's turn to look away with disdain. Not at her, but at the memory.

"My world's Yang, Blake, and Weiss kicked me into a pit that creates the Grimm." Reaper said with a quick pace and flat tone. He could feel the horror radiate off his friend with such an intensity, that there was no need to look at her.

"Why?" she asked with a trembling voice.

Reaper looked at Adam's corpse for a few moments in silence before he turned back to her. "I don't know."

"Does it hurt?" Velvet asked, to which Reaper closed his eyes.

"All the time, Velvet."

 **(Re-Jaune)**

"Sparrow! Are you alright?!" Re-Jaune crouched down to check on his companion with Sparrow waving him off. Both of them ignored the panic that ensued within the audience that surrounded them. What mattered now was the enemy before them.

"I'm fine! The bastard just caught me by surprise. Don't worry about me and go kill that motherfucker!" Sparrow growled as he sparked again. Re-Jaune nodded before standing to his full height. The time traveler narrowed his eyes and gave the Grimm King a glare that could melt iron.

 **"Yes Arc. Hate me even more. It's been too long since I've seen that face."**

Re-Jaune said nothing. Instead, he whirled Crocea Mors in a taunting fashion before taking the same stance he took when facing Noctis last time with eyes blazing with blue fire. "Why the hell are you here? And why the hell do you look like me?" Noctis grinned as he rubbed a hand over his new features.

Indeed, he looked like Jaune, except his hair was black, his skin was pale as marble and he had to long black horns grown out of his head. The sclera of his eyes was black with the iris a glowing evil red. He was dressed still in the shadowy cloak, but bone-like armor peeked out of the shadows.

 **"Do you like it?"** Noctis asked with genuine curiosity before he twirled around to show his new body, which made it all the creepier. **"It's still a work in progress, but I assure that the final product will be more impressive when we get home. I chose to resemble you because you are the only human in the world that I respect. Thousand had tried to slay me before in our world, none of them could succeed. Except you, my oldest friend. You are the only one I respect and admire."**

"So, you have a man-crush on me? Great. That's just what I need." Re-Jaune rolled his eyes. "And the name Noctis?"

 **"Oh, well."** Noctis said with a taunting shrug of his shoulders. **"You, humans have names based after colors, so I thought I'd try it out myself. Noctis Mors, sounds a lot better than just screaming Grimm King all the time, don't you think?"**

"What the hell are you doing here? Why haven't you gone back to Salem?" Noctis chuckled as he shook his head.

 **"That royal whore? why would I ever join forces with her? She is a usurper to my throne. She took control and defiled my brothers in her image and I will not stand for it."** The lord of darkness leaned forward with a sickening smile. **"But once I'm done here, I fully intend to destroy her."** Jaune glared as he held his old weapon.

"How? I can't remember how to defeat her, and neither should you. How the hell are you going to stop her curse?"

 **"Oh, I have my ways. But enough talk…** " he held out his hand as black energy poured out and a blade of black iron and ivory bone appeared in his hand. The design similar to his weapon. He grinned as he unleashed his power.

 **"If you're ready, then let our rematch BEGIN!"** Noctis' voice thundered around the almost vacant coliseum while he rocketed towards his destined foe.

Re-Jaune followed suit, not wanting Noctis to gain an advantage early on. The two titans' blades clashed, which sent out a destructive shockwave that threatened to bring down the entire arena. The power behind it sent debris in every direction and nearly sent Sparrow into the stands.

Re-Jaune bore into the Grimm King's eyes, feeling nothing but hate and vengeance for the bastard who took everything from him. Noctis gave nothing but an amused smile as he enjoyed the thrill of fighting the very man who ended his life so long ago. Neither of them moved an inch; locked in a stalemate with both blades grating against one another. Shockwaves of white and black energy escaped their forms and clashed in a spectrum of grey.

The time traveler channeled his aura with a calm intensity, feeling it envelop and course through his body. The stalemate started to end as Re-Jaune pushed harder and with even more power than Noctis. Instead of feeling the stress or fear from the outcome, the doom bringer laughed as he continued to prevent his enemy from gaining an advantage summoning his darkness to gain the upper hand. The Arc gave out a guttural war cry, breaking through the Grimm King's guard giving the monster a devastating blow across his hated adversary's chest. Noctis slid across what remained the arena with black blood spraying out of the gaping chest wound but showed no emotion to the fresh cut.

He craned his neck to the side as the injury started to heal and disappeared completely in mere moments. A grin spreading across his face as he looked at his mortal enemy.

'What in the-?! How did he heal that so quickly?! That fucking bastard has gotten stronger since last time. I'm gonna have to go for fatal hits and just cut the bastard in half!'

 **"That's it Jaune. That's why I like you so much. You know exactly where to hit the right spots!"** Noctis hissed while licking his lips.

Re-Jaune sprinted forward going on the offense with a torrent of slashes from his sword and a barrage of bashes from his shield as well. Noctis parried away the blade each time but failed to block Arc's shield as the infernal thing crashed into him multiple times.

"GRAHHH!" Re-Jaune roared once more before bringing his blade down with the force of an Atlas battleship.

Noctis quickly held up his blade, blocking it with minimal effort before staring at Re-Jaune with a curious gaze.

 **"Come now Arc, that attack was weaker than the last one!"** Noctis lashed out with his blade, swiping it viciously against Re-Jaune's chest and sending the Arc flying just as he did to the Grimm King earlier.

The time-traveler turned in mid-air before stabbing Crocea Mors into the ground, stopping himself from being thrown away like a ragdoll. He looked down at his chest to assess the damage done. His aura was holding up for the most part but not stopping everything, blood dripped from the small wound which made him snarl in rage.

Noctis took in a deep, satisfying breath as he felt the wave of negativity wash over him like the sun rising in the morning.

 **"Delicious...absolutely delicious! Keep coming at me, Jaune! This is just like before, back when the world was nothing but ash! But first..."** Noctis sauntered over to Cinder who was barely holding on by a hair. He stared down at the dying girl without an ounce of sympathy.

 **"Naive pitiful child. You truly are such an easy pawn to manipulate, but alas, I still have use for you."** He extended his hand as darkness enveloped Cinder. Re-Jaune was thrown off at the sudden scream as the darkness overwhelmed her.

Re-Jaune flashed over to Noctis in order to try and stop the Grimm King in his tracks. Noctis held up his sword without even looking at the Arc and blocked the blow before giving out a final breath as the darkness returned to him. What was revealed made Re-Jaune nearly puke as a fully healed but more Grimm like Cinder was kneeling before his nemesis.

 **"Go, my servant, slaughter Jaune Arc's beloved, Pyrrha Nikos, then after she's been snuffed out move on to everyone else he cares for."** Grimm-Cinder roared as she jumped out of the ruined arena with black flames trailing behind her.

"NO!" he yelled trying to stop her, but she was too far away. His focus returned to the monster before him, who only chuckled at his dismay.

"KING!" Re-Jaune bellowed out flying at Noctis as if he was a shell from a battleship careening into the monster and emitting a shockwave more powerful than any previous one. Noctis held his ground gritting his teeth while Jaune was absolutely furious, looking to kill the bastard as quickly as possible to prevent Pyrrha from getting hurt.

They continued to struggle as neither one gave any ground. Ferocity matched satisfaction as Noctis and Re-Jaune clashed blades over and over again. For every time one blow landed, two were met in kind from the recipient. Fury and euphoria intertwined within the two warriors as the clashing grew, only to peak when the two charged at each other with everything they had. The shockwave that came with their collision was so strong, that it sent both of them back to their respective sides of the arena. Neither opponent faltered in their demeanor as they both readied their blades for another round.

Their attention was ripped away from their battle for mere moments as the soft but growing sound of jet engines filled their ears. Re-Jaune looked up from his battle, only to widen his eyes at a flaming bullhead that crashed onto the arena floor, forcing the two to jump out of the way. Re-Jaune breathed heavily as he glared at his opponent.

'Something is wrong, I'm not as powerful as I should be.' Re-Jaune looked down at his hand as he felt his aura flow through him. 'I trained to be stronger than this, did I get affected like the rest? Not just my gear, but my power too?' he looked over to Noctis who grinned.

'And how the hell is he so strong?! I knew he would be stronger, but not this strong. Something is going wrong here.' Re-Jaune looked up huffing from the exertion he was putting himself through to see a familiar figure climb out of the wreckage with what seemed to look like a corpse on his shoulder.

"Sorry...that I'm late. But...better late than never." Reaper breathed out, clearly exhausted as he chucked the once more dead corpse of Adam Taurus, his middle torso and head were all that remained.

"Reaper?" Re-Jaune asked. "What in the...is that Taurus?!"

"Yeah...looks like Noctis brought the fucker back somehow. He was way stronger than before, gave me quite a bit of trouble but you can see the outcome."

 **"How disappointing."**

Reaper shivered nearly instantly upon hearing that chilling, inhuman, and downright sinister voice for the second time. Every fiber of his being was screaming at himself to run, to get the hell out before it's too late. Yet, all he did was swallow hard and turned around to face the Grimm King.

 **"Ah, the mistake has arrived, and he was capable of killing my resurrected puppet. That's quite impressive, I imbued him with quite a bit of my power, yet he still fell once more."** Noctis shook his head with a mocking tsk before he grinned at the masked man. **"Though you've proven something with your victory."** He raised his hand as Adam's body broke off into black dust and swirled back into the King. **"Still useful as a snack in the end. Prime Cut I believe."**

"Arc," Reaper said as he backed away and stood by Re-Jaune's side. "I'm gonna be honest with you I don't like our chances here. Where the fuck is Sparrow?!"

"I'm...right here" Sparrow limped his way to them wakizashi drawn with sparks flying everywhere.

"You ain't looking good sparks. Might want to sit this one out." Reaper voiced rare concern for his teammate while Sparrow gave a stubborn head shake.

"Can't...this monster needs to be...dealt with. We need to kill him then find Cinder, he sent her to go murder Pyrrha. We can't let her die, we can't fail!"

"Agreed...Let's take him together, overwhelm him with attacks from multiple angles, we got a good chance. Just don't let him hit you, he could send you flying out of the coliseum." Re-Jaune advised as they nodded.

"Understood." Sparrow said as his breath hitched before he closed his eyes. "Mercy...divert all power to combat effectiveness and unlock the emergency aura supply."

"Orders received, diverting power now, aura supply seal now undone." Mercy responded doing as she was ordered.

 **"This is very amusing. Observing the three of you plan your attack is humorous as it is futile."** Noctis said.

"How so?" Re-Jaune challenged.

 **"Because I've already dismantled it."** Noctis replied as he snapped his fingers.

"The hell are you talking-"

BLAM!

Re-Jaune flew back, feeling buckshot nearly pierce his aura and blow a hole through his chest. He couldn't help but writhe on the ground for a second, letting his aura work before standing back up to see a shaking Reaper, who was struggling to not pull the trigger from his shotguns.

"Reaper?" Re-jaune asked in bewilderment while the man in question could only shake his head shakily.

"Arc..." Reaper said with confused panic. "Don't get close to me...I can't...control...my body! Noctis...you fucking...slimy piece of...shit!"

 **"It was entertaining to see the three of you try to work together. But I'd rather my fight be one on one with my dance partner, thank you very much."** Noctis said as he eyed Re-Jaune like a succulent piece of meat. **"Now your friend is my peon. Reaper, do as your name entails and reap their lives."** The terrorist gave his all to try and resist the Grimm King's control but couldn't fight it off. His shotgun leveled at Re-Jaune ready to pull the trigger.

"Reaps no!" Sparrow tackled his counterpart before rolling in front of Re-Jaune ready to regrettably fight against his friend.

"John, you deal with Noctis. I'll keep Reaper occupied. I know he isn't control of his actions, but we can't get distracted! Kill that monster where he stands!" Sparrow shouted as he dashed in front of Reaper, striking his companions machetes as hard as he could. The psychopath did his best to try and not block it so his counterpart could take him out of commission but to no avail, his blade came up just in time to catch the cyborg's strike.

"Dammit, Sparks...you're already messed up! Get out of here while you can! I... don't want to...hurt you!"

"I can't do that Reaps. If I leave, Noctis will force you to attack John! I won't let that happen!" They pushed one another away before standing off against each other with weapons ready.

"Reaps...Jaune...however, this will end, I don't blame you for anything that happens."Sparrow said. Reaper was shivering more than he was before and for a moment, Sparrow could see the same blue eyes he has and a single tear roll down the mask that covered his friend's face.

"I'm sorry." Reaper spoke barely above a whisper running towards the cyborg blades drawn, Sparrow met him halfway colliding with his blades in a rain of sparks.

Re-jaune glanced over at his counterpart's duel, swearing under his breath to make Noctis suffer for what he has done to Reaper. Aura flaring more wildly and brighter than before.

"Grimm King..." white aura burst from his body as he glared at the grinning demonic entity.

"I AM GOING TO END YOU HERE AND NOW!" Re-Jaune exploded forward, discarding his shield to the side and gripping Crocea Mors with two hands. Noctis stood in place, raising his blade then finally swinging it down and unleashing a torrent of darkness that shot toward the time-traveler. Re-Jaune swung his blade forward, slicing into the void splitting it down the middle very much as he did before with Cinder.

This time however he was struggling to cut through it. Noctis poured more powering into the blast forcing his foe back inch by inch smiling as the void started to overcome Jaune. The time-traveler gripped his blade, so hard blood started to leak from his hands, legs shaking threatening to give out as he was pushed back farther and farther.

His mind flashed, memories playing like a movie. His first life repeating all of the horrors that occurred, Pyrrha dying, his home decimated, a row of gravestones all engraved with the name Arc, the death of all his friends. Then his second life started flowing through his brain, training with his father, preparing to go to Beacon, leaving his home, then being sent here. Getting to see his friends again, the love of his life, and meet his amazing counterparts working with them to secure a better tomorrow for this world.

'I...will not..fail them...AGAIN!' Re-Jaune erupted with all the aura he had in his body pushing through Noctis's attack with all the power he could muster.

The Grimm King showed rare surprise, gritting his teeth in both anger and strain as he tried to push past his destined foe. The Arc was having none of that as he was still cutting through what Noctis threw at him with renewed vigor and a refusal to give in.

The monster roared in fury giving one last effort to obliterate Re-Jaune, sending his power out even more than before. The time-traveler finally appeared in front of Noctis, Crocea Mors burning red and glowing with pure white light. The Arc let out a final cry of wrath his blade connecting with Noctis's chest vying to see his ancestral blade cut the monster in half as white light erupted between the two blinding Reaper and Sparrow.

The light finally died down after a minute and Sparrow gazed on in anticipation to see what the outcome would entail.

"No...John...JAUNE!" Sparrow screamed at the top of his lungs at what he was witnessing.

Re-Jaune was down on his knees holding only the hilt of Crocea Mors with Noctis's sword stabbed through his chest. Crocea Mors was completely shattered with the pieces littering his feet. Noctis stood above the time traveler with a blank look on his face. Blood sprayed out of Re-Jaune's chest which covered the Grimm King in a crimson shower while the monster didn't even flinch.

 **"…I am disappointed old friend,"** Noctis said. **"This is not how I wanted our battle to end. But it seems that you were no match for me this time. I had a plan for you, a plan to ensure our battle would wage on for eternity. Like the days of old when the Gods roamed this earth."** Noctis crouched down to Re-Jaune's level before he shook his head. **"But it seems that our travel to this dimension affected you more then you realized, just as it did me. But whereas you have weakened, I grew stronger.** " He placed his blade under Jaune's chin and lifted it up to look at him.

 **"I may not be able to return to our world, but I will make sure this one is suitable to my needs. I will always remember you, old friend, even if our time is cut short. I only wish you could've seen what our future would hold. Farewell, Jaune Arc."** Noctis leveled his blade with Re-Jaune's neck.

Re-Jaune made no move to dodge, eyes half-lidded reminiscing on his failure. 'Jaune...I'm so sorry...Pyrrha...forgive me.' He closed his eyes waiting for the end to come.'

*CLANG!*

Re-Jaune opened his eyes to see Sparrow holding Noctis's blade in place, barely able to hold back the king of Grimm.

 **"Oh? Now the toaster comes to challenge me? Ok then little machine, I ACCEPT IT!"**

He smashed Sparrow's wakizashi from his hand before slamming his fist into the cyborg's visor. Glass shattered and the helmet flew off revealing the same face of Re-Jaune except more scarred and bloodied from the blow Noctis inflicted upon him. Sparrow struggled to stand and was lifted off his feet Noctis holding him by his throat.

 **"You all believed that you would save this world? That you could change the future. Such a naive and pointless goal."** He taunted before he gripped Sparrow's right arm and ripped it off making the cyborg screech in pain, all while his limb sent out sparks within in the monster's hand. Noctis slammed him into the ground making the cyborg spit out blood, struggling to breathe.

 **"The three Arc's, all failures of their respective worlds. You all failed to realize that I gained strength from all of your anger."** Noctis gripped Sparrow's leg tightly and crushed it in his grasp, the cyborg throwing his head back in agony.

 **"You little machine, you're anger and negativity toward the White Fang and Taurus was the most delicious. It greatly increased my presence and power but even then, it still wasn't enough."** his gaze turned back to Re-Jaune. **"So, I used Cinder Fall to make you, my old friend, so furious that it would summon me and I would no longer be some shadow hiding in the dark!** " He brought his fist down onto Sparrow's other leg crushing it as if it was newspaper, moving onto the final limb.

 **"Oh...This limb is still human, it's not machine. Is this the last bit of humanity you cling to little cyborg?"** Sparrow said nothing writhing in so much pain he couldn't even speak as Noctis tore the armor from the arm leaving it bare.

 **"No matter then, Reaper come here."** The terrorist resisted before finally kneeling in front of Noctis. " **Good. My order is simple. Mutilate and render his limb completely useless."** Reaper stood up walking over to Sparrow machete already out.

He loomed over his friend mind racing trying to think of some way to stop this. He rose a foot over the unarmored limb, all while throwing his head back in forth in a vain attempt to stop himself. Reaper cursed as he failed to do so the moment his boot crushed Sparrow's hand. The sickening sound of bones crunching piercing his ears. Sparrow was already in so much pain he barely felt it tears streaming down his face. Reaper held his machete at Sparrow's shoulder raising the blade to chop it off. He gasped in surprise when he felt his left hand grip his right arm preventing him from swinging it down.

 **"What is this? Cripple his arm now. Do as I command!"**

Noctis's voice echoed in Reaper's mind, shaking throughout his entire body as two parts of himself were at war with one another. He gave out a pained roar shifting his machete into a shotgun and placed it under his chin before pulling the trigger.

Reaper's body hit the ground headless wisps of smoke already forming his head back together. Noctis hummed gazing over the scene before him, his foe beaten and laying on the ground with his allies just as defeated.

 **"Well, that was…dramatic. More resistant then I thought."** He looked over to his wounded rival as he stared before grinning.

 **"What am I thinking?** " Noctis said as he looked on at the three of them with disbelief. **"This is not how hour battle should end. No, it must be better than this."** He walked over and stood over the time traveler.

 **"If you can hear me, old friend, I've changed my mind. I won't kill you or your companions. Not this time. For I need you to be at your peak performance, to be at the level you trained to be before I raze this world into an empty wasteland."** a sensual breath escaped Noctis as he shuddered at the memory.

 **"So, gather your allies, train your bodies, and regain the powers you lost. Until we face one another again Jaune Arc, I'm expecting to see you soon filled with revenge and hate!"** Without another moment to lose, Noctis disappeared, leaving the three Arcs alone, the arena silent with only the wind whipping around the floating coliseum.

Reaper was the first on his feet, breathing ragged and inconsistent. He shook his head, finally regaining his bearings before immediately sprinting to the still forms of his two counterparts.

"Arc! Sparks! Come on dammit speak to me!" He brought the two close together before looking down at them. He couldn't help but reel back from the sight of them brutally injured and mutilated.

"DAMMIT!" His fist slammed into the ground. His hand dissipated upon impact before he continued again and again, ignoring the blistering pain traveling through his entire being.

"DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!" after smashing his fist one more time, he finally stopped before he covered his face.

"It's my fault." Reaper said with a shaky voice. "My fault."

"Reaper." Re-Jaune called out in a strained voice making the terrorist turn to face the time-traveler, the older Arc's face twisted in agony while holding a hand where his chest wound was.

"Drag...Sparrow to me. I'll give him what aura I got left. My wound is healed...for the most part." Reaper looked at the wound to see the time traveler's words held true much to his surprise.

Reaper did as he told, dragging the cyborg to Re-Jaune. The time-traveler nodded in thanks resting his hand on Sparrow's chest breathing in deeply as his aura was channeled into the cyborg. Sparrow's breathing became more even and his crushed hand started to mend, bones reforming as the limb became whole again. Re-Jaune gave out a final huff, his hand sliding off Sparrow then rolling onto his back wincing from the still fresh chest wound. Reaper still sat next this his friend stewing in his own self-blame and hatred.

"Reaper," Re-Jaune said with a calm, but soft voice. "It's not your fault. That bastard...If anyone is at fault it's me. I should've been powerful enough to kill him. I don't know how but I lost some of my power coming here. If I'm going to be able to beat that bastard I need to get it back!" His body flared for a second before dying out quickly, the older Arc spent.

"I need to get you two to an infirmary." Reaper assessed as his hatred washed over him for the time being. "Then I'll go hunt for Cinder. Pray to Oum that she hasn't found Pyrrha yet."

"Please Reaper, don't let her die. If there's one thing I don't want to fail today it's keeping her safe and alive." Re-Jaune begged as panic began to spread through him.

"I won't. You have my word Arc, I'll keep her safe and butcher Cinder." Reaper said as he slung Sparrow over his shoulder and hoisted Re-Jaune up with his arm, carrying the two towards the docks hoping there was still a bullhead or two docked.

 **(Fairgrounds)**

"HA!" Pyrrha speared through yet another Beowolf, wiping her head of sweat looking around at the carnage laid before her. Grimm scurried around everywhere, Creeps running amok, Beowolf's stalking prey, and the occasional deathstalker crashing through the treeline. It was chaos. Pure unadulterated chaos. The champion looked around trying to find her fellow teammates and friends but the screaming of civilians and roars of Grimm made her have to focus on the issue at hand.

"GAHHHH!' A scream ripped through the air as a body was hurled out of nowhere landing only a few feet away from Pyrrha. She ran over to help the man stopping in her tracks at who it was in horror. Headmaster Ozpin laid in a small crater, skin seared and his white hair blackened from soot and ash.

"Headmaster!" Pyrrha cried out kneeling next to her teacher trying to think of a way to help him.

"Miss Nikos...You need to run...She's after you!" He said with urgency struggling to stand but to no avail.

"Who Headmaster? Who's after me?" He went to open his lips but stopped pushing his student away at the last second as a torrent of pure black flame engulfed her teacher, leaving nothing but a smoldering blue-hued crater leaving nothing behind.

"HEADMASTER!" Pyrrha screamed in horror witnessing her teacher be reduced to ash right before her eyes spun around to see what looked to be a Grimmified Cinder.

"Ahhh there you are Nikos," Cinder said with a distorted voice. "My master ordered me to find you, but I wanted to kill Ozpin first." She looked down at the singed spot with a mocking glance. "Such a disappointment. You will have to do." The false maiden growled like a feral animal about to feast on trapped prey. She sprung forward glass blade impacting Akuo and making Pyrrha cry out in pain. Despite blocking the strike, the impact nearly popped her arm from its socket.

"Is that all you have? I expected MORE!" She broke through Pyrrha's block slashing across her body to devastating effect. The champion sailed through the air before crashing into a stall. She looked down at her scroll with wide eye as she saw her aura meter was at fifty percent only after a single blow.

'Oum above I don't stand a chance! I need to run, regroup and find help! She'll kill me at this rate!'

"Oh, Nikos! Where are you little champion? Don't run! Come and play!" Cinder taunted and ripped the stall apart with no effort glaring at the now empty impact area.

Pyrrha hid behind another stall a few rows down trying to steady her breathing from both exertion and horror.

'I need to run but I think she could chase after me without issue. Dammit, what am I to do?!' Pyrrha closed her eyes trying to formulate a plan.

"There you are!" Cinder barreled through the stall without warning swinging her blades wildly aiming to eviscerate Pyrrha. The champion leaped back, shifting Milo to rifle mode and fired multiple shots into Cinder making the monster grunt in pain.

"Those feeble little bullets don't do a thing to me! Accept it 'Invincible Girl' you're going to die here!" Cinder sneered closing the distance and planting a kick right into Pyrrha's ribs making the champion spit blood up careening into the ground hard, aura levels plummeting on impact. The false maiden was already on her, hand wrapped around Pyrrha's throat intent on choking the champion to death.

'Can't... breath...I'm going to die here...Jaune...I'm...sorry..." Pyrrha felt tears leak out trying to let out a gasp giving her best effort to fight.

"No more struggling...accept it." Cinder gave a malicious smile feeling pleasure in seeing Pyrrha pass out and finally inevitably die in moments to come.

"AWWOOO!" A yellow flash slammed into Cinder launching her off Pyrrha howling in anger. The false maiden snarled jumping to her feet to see the mangy mongrel who was part of the elder Arc's team.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune Arc ran to his girlfriend and checked her pulse. Moments paste before he breathed a sigh of relief due to the feeling of her heartbeat. He set her back down gently, only to glare at Cinder with nothing but hate eerily similar to Re-Jaune, making Cinder take a step back for a moment.

"You...how dare you..." Jaune's form was enveloped in what looked like a white flame before roaring in fury.

"THAT'S MY PYRRHA!"

* * *

 **Noble: I couldn't resist. If you're a DBZ fan then you know what that last line is from!**

 **Sparky: Maybe it'll distract everyone from the shit that is continuously hitting the fan with no sign of slowing down?**

 **Noble; Good point! Well next chapter will be the aftermath! Read and Review! Also wanna say thanks so much for 400 followers! That is absolutely amazing! On top of that, this story became a year old two weeks ago! How far it has come!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Noble: Wow so I totally forgot this story is now officially a year old. Man how time flies! Thanks so much to everyone who has read this story! And an even bigger thanks to all my fellow writers who helped make this story possible! Couldn't do it without em! Love ya you crazy bastards!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their respective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19**

* * *

"RAGGGHHH!" Jaune roared with pure unadulterated rage before slamming Re-Jaune's sword into Cinder's blades, all in order to drive Cinder back and away from Pyrrha. The false maiden snarled the entire time she was forced away from her prey now having to focus on the younger Arc. She shot flames toward the boy intent on turning him to ash in an instant.

Jaune took a page from his older counterpart and slammed his foot into the ground not quite bringing up a massive piece of earth like Re-Jaune, but just enough to block the oncoming attack. The clump of terrain and rock was searing hot and on the verge of melting, but still held true against the onslaught of flames.

"This is quite amusing now, isn't it?! I was ordered by my lord to kill Pyrrha Nikos and others beloved by John Arc, now I get to kill his younger brother and the mongrel as well!" She pushed more power into her flame and smiled at the sight of Jaune's earthly shield fall apart; coming ever so closer to incinerating Jaune.

"AWWOO!" with a distracting and yet surprising howl, Puppy rocketed forward; slamming into Cinder's ribs like a cannonball interrupting her attack and making her splutter out blood from the impact. The pup swore he might've heard a bone break from how hard he hit her. There was aggressive satisfaction in the dog's eyes as growled at the murderer.

Jaune took the opening his canine companion gave him and launched from behind his makeshift shield while glowing a brilliant white. He hurled his blade into Cinder while she was trying to get her breath back and couldn't help but feel satisfied as his blade carved into Cinder's shoulder like hot butter. Cinder screamed in agony as she felt the blade be pulled from her body.

"You insignificant worm!" Cinder roared as she lunged from her wounded state and swiped her razor-edged claws across Jaune's chest grinning in pleasure at seeing blood spurt out.

"AGH!" the Arc jumped back with his sword at the ready before assessing the damage done. His aura took most of the damage and was slowly patching him up, but the claws still made their way into his flesh.

'Shit...' Jaune thought as he did his best to control his breathing. 'I need to end this! I only got about four or three minutes left of my semblance!' Jaune looked up from his wounds to face his opponent, only to widen his eyes and grin at his furry counterpart who had been buying him time.

Puppy zipped forward jumping back and forth between fireballs before pouncing onto Cinder's already wounded shoulder. The dog bared his teeth down on the still bleeding wound and held on with an aggressive intensity. Cinder screamed again and with a vicious snarl, she grabbed the pooch by his scruff and threw him into a nearby tree. A sharp yelp escaped Puppy the moment upon impact and left a dent in the tree before sliding onto the ground; not moving.

"PUPPY!" Jaune cried as he got up and turned toward his opponent. "CINDER, YOU BITCH!" Jaune rocketed at her eyes blazing with white fire as Cinder whipped around to face him. She smirked in victory as she sprung her hand forward. Her grimmified limb extended unnaturally and found its grip around Jaune's throat. The arc choked as her grip tightened even further preventing him from breathing.

"Don't worry," Cinder whispered as she drew Jaune in close with her grip. "Your partner will be joining you soon." Jaune gripped clawed at her wrist all while his strength was leaving him rapidly. He gasped for air, but it never came as Cinder's monstrous eyes bore into him.

'I can't...I won't! DIE HERE!' Jaune willed his semblance with all the power he had left wrenching Cinder's wrist to the side snapping the bone within. The false maiden recoiled in shock and pain before whipping her gaze towards Jaune with a venomous glare.

"Stubborn fly! Just die already!" Fire shot out once more forcing Jaune to roll out of the way the best he could, but he was too late as the flames shot across his back, scorching him in the process.

"GAHHH!" Jaune cried in agony. His aura was doing its best to mend the wound but he was losing his concentration as his semblance deactivated.

Cinder took her chance and brandished a blade within her unbroken hand. She panted in both anger and pain before stomping on Jaune's back with her signature anger.

"Doesn't this bring back memories? ARC!" She dug her heel into his back, driving into the seared flesh relishing in Jaune's agonized screams. Cinder pulled her heel from his back, flipping him over bringing the tip of her blade underneath Jaune's chin relishing in seeing his pained face.

"I've been waiting for this moment since your brother dared to oppose me." Cinder said as her blade rose ready to slice him in half, Jaune's eye remained on the monster; refusing to give her the satisfaction of him being afraid.

Cinder brought the blade down, ready to see nothing but blood and a dead Arc. Her eyes grew wide when at a sudden blunt object slammed into her gut. The impact sent her sailing through the air before smashing through a tree. Cinder took no time to rest as she got to her feet and shook her head. Her ferocity returned with a vengeance as she was ready to destroy whoever dared interrupt her victory. However, her fury was overcome with a mixture of shock and confusion as she gazed at what stood across from her. A blonde beast that looked to be the size of an alpha beowolf except more heavily muscled stood before her with a primal fury that dwarfed hers. Other distinguishing characteristics of the beast were gold trimmings around the scruff of his neck and its piercing blue eyes.

"What in the-is that the mongrel?!" Cinder yelled in utter disbelief. The terrifying beast that was Puppy Arc snarled at Cinder while standing between her and Jaune.

"Hehehe...Ya know it's kinda crazy." Jaune groaned out coming to his feet glaring at Cinder with a cocky smirk. "I had no idea amplifying an animal's aura can have such an effect." Jaune trudged up to Puppy's side. "Can you talk, Pup?"

He got a small snarl in return. Jaune nodded at their current situation.

"Gotcha...well Puppy, have at her."

Puppy responded with an ear-shattering roar before sprinting on all fours, ready to shred the false maiden apart. Cinder shot more flames out which puppy dodged with surprising speed despite his size. The blonde beast leapt from tree trunk to tree trunk before launching himself right into his foe. He struck her like a sledgehammer and followed up by grabbing Cinder's head and embedding her into the ground.

The false maiden's head rang while she tasted blood in her mouth. The pain erupted moments later from her already once bitten shoulder and she looked up to see that the beast had his maw in her shoulder once more. Except his fangs that were buried in her skin were sharper than ever before; like a row of daggers piercing her flesh.

"Disgusting MUTT!" Cinder slammed a fist into puppy's stomach, sending him stumbling back and away from her. He growled at the pain and took a knee before getting back to his feet. Puppy Spat a little blood out of his mouth before grinning at the state Cinder was in.

"You...you dare to gloat?!" Cinder growled more savagely than a feral animal lunging at Puppy, slamming into the werewolf sized Arc. Claws tore through flesh, howls of pain pierced the air, blood sprayed across the ground. The two tumbled away from one another, both bleeding from numerous wounds and panting in ragged breaths.

"Vile...insignificant...WRETCH!" Cinder's screams echoed through the air as she conjured a fireball larger than any she had ever created before. Despite the sudden surge of power she felt, Cinder was granted an idea as she remembered that the beast and the blonde weren't her only opponents. She turned towards Pyrrha's unconscious form with a demented grin and readied her attack.

Jaune stared on in horror as did puppy. The two sprinted over to Pyrrha to shield her from the oncoming flame, Jaune and puppy worked together to tear up a massive chunk of dirt and rocks propping it above them. Puppy ripped a nearby tree out of the ground to reinforce their makeshift barricade.

"AS IF A MERE CLUMP OF DIRT COULD STOP ME!" Cinder threw the torrent of flame down on her hated foes, all in order to incinerate them in an instant. The blaze hit the Arc duo's temporary shield like an artillery shell; almost making them both buckle from under the impact.

'Shit shit shit! I gotta think of a plan! But what can I do?! We're about to be incinerated and I can't do a damned thing about it!' Jaune gritted his teeth wracking his brain for something, anything that could save him and his friends but had nothing. As the heat continued to rise, Jaune looked back at Pyrrha's beaten form. That hate towards himself began to rise as he remembered the fight with the mutated Deathstalker that started this nightmare in the first place. Pyrrha was hurt again and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"ACCEPT YOUR FATE! DIE!" Cinder wailed ready to put the final nail in all of their coffins.

BLAM!

The sound of a shotgun ripped through the blazing inferno of Cinder's power and echoed throughout the fairgrounds; sending Cinder to the ground with buckshot embedded in her back.

"Made it," Reaper panted as he gripped his side, yet kept held one of his shotguns toward Cinder. "Barely made it." Reaper's shotgun was still smoking from his dust infused buckshot blast as the false maiden writhed in pain and agony. The fire dust burned away at her skin and sizzled her muscle with a sadistic intensity.

Reaper took the opportunity to vault over the mound of earth and found out that it was made by Jaune and what looked to be blonde Beowolf. Both were shielding the knocked out, but still breathing form of Pyrrha propped against a tree. He gave out a sigh of relief and smiled underneath his mask.

"Thank Oum she's alive. Today's already gone to shit as much as it had it's good to have some good news." Reaper said as peeked over the mound and saw the now standing Cinder whose face was still twisted in rage and anguish.

"More of you...why do more of you keep popping up?! What makes Nikos so damned important to all of you?!" She breathed out struggling to stay on her feet from so many injuries. Reaper stared at her showing not just hate but a hint of sorrow at Cinder's twisted Grimm form.

'More of Noctis' power.' Reaper's grip around his shotguns tightened as he looked on at the similar power. He ducked behind the mound and looked at his two allies.

"Jaune, can you fight?" Reaper asked. The defeated look in Jaune's eyes gave him the answer he didn't want. Reaper cursed at the situation, but couldn't help but look at the monstrous beast before him.

"Puppy?"

A grunt was all that was given in response. Reaper's red eyes widened at the sudden change. There was no need to ask as the beast bared its fangs and brandished his claws; raring for another round with the false maiden.

"Was not expecting this, but I'm not complaining." Reaper said as he readied his shotguns into machetes.

"ANSWER ME!" Cinder ripped them away from their conversation as another blast of fire was hurled at them.

"An Arc never goes back on his word." Jaune muttered as he clutched his side and made his way to Pyrrha's side. Jaune looked over his partner before looking at his counterparts with his sword at the ready and gave them a determined nod. Reaper and Puppy smiled at the sight before their resolve came back tenfold and the two vaulted over their cover.

Reaper lead the charge Cinder and wasted no time slicing across her waist before ducking under her wild swing. She spun around to strike him but was met with a massive furry fist smashing into her jaw, careening her away. Reaper looked up to see the werewolf-like beast smirk down at him with glee and pride.

"Seriously, how are you like this?" Reaper asked.

Puppy shrugged as he pointed at the young Arc who had just slashed into Cinder. Reaper could tell that his last strike would be enough to subdue her as the sloppy and frantic nature of Jaune's swing matched Cinder. Both were more than spent when it came to their strength and he couldn't blame his blonde counterpart. He looked like he just went through hell fighting Cinder and protecting Pyrrha. The state Cinder was in when he showed up only solidified his claim.

Jaune, Puppy, nor Reaper felt any pity as Cinder fell to the ground. She was still alive, but Reaper could see that Jaune didn't intend for that to be a permanent fact as the blonde knight rose his blade in a stabbing motion ready to end her life.

"Jaune...wait." Reaper phased over to him grabbing his wrist to prevent the young Arc from ending her life.

"Why?! She tried to kill Pyrrha!" Jaune looked at Reaper with rage-filled eyes making the terrorist feel as though he was looking at a mirror. "Weren't you and Sparrow spouting that we have to kill whether we like it or not?! Huh?! Tell me you fucking hypocrite!"

"Yeah," Reaper said as he looked away for a moment. "We did tell you that and we do have to kill in this line of work." He looked back to Jaune and could see that the blonde knight's anger was quelled for a few moments as Reaper's eyes reverted back to their original sapphire hue. "But it doesn't always have to end this way." The red eyes returned as Reaper looked to Cinder and walked toward her unconscious form.

"Sometimes death is too easy." Reaper looked back at Jaune while pulling Cinder up by her hair. "If she lives and reports to Salem on her failure…Well, that's worse than any death we could give her." Reaper's words calmed Jaune as the blade lowered and finally found its way into his scabbard.

"Don't think she's gonna get off scot-free. I got an idea that's gonna hurt worse than anything else." Reaper said as he let his smoke leak out of him, with a curled hand, he made the smoke go through her entire body. Cinder's consciousness returned as her pained shrieks filled Reaper with content as he tore at the darkness that corrupted her.

With a final grunt, Reaper felt the last of Noctis' essence within Cinder leave and with some hesitation, he let the remaining smoke infect himself as he absorbed Noctis' essence. Reaper fell to his knees as the newfound power forced him down. He gasped as it washed over him, making his skin flair and smoke writhe before he finally contained it within him. His heavy breathing was the only noise to greet the silence before the three Arcs.

"Reaper?" Jaune asked as the hooded arc stood up from the sudden wave of pain. "What did you just do?" Jaune looked at the now normal humanoid form of Cinder then back at Reaper.

"Did something to even the odds." He said nothing else as he phased away; disappearing into the wind.

"The heck was that all about?" Jaune widened his tired eyes at the sudden voice as he turned to Puppy to see the now shrunken puppy trot over to him staring on in confusion. Jaune had the same confusion as his counterpart did, having no idea as to what just happened.

"I don't know. But we can't worry about that, right now we gotta get Pyrrha to the hospital as quickly as possible!" he shouted as he sprinted to his girlfriend; scooping her up in a bridal carry. His body ached and screamed at the sudden stress he was under, but Jaune continued onward to Beacon with Puppy in tow. He hated the fact that he was leaving Cinder there. He knew she would be back, but Cinder didn't matter.

Pyrrha did.

 **(Hours later)**

Beacon was in shambles. The once prosperous academy was now a haven for the victims of the sudden and massive Grimm attack that took place at the academy and Vale. Injured students littered the halls of Beacon while the dead were already covered with sheets. Many voices cried out for friends in the hope to hear a response. Some were met with relief, but unfortunately, some would only hear silence.

Ruby Rose stumbled through Beacon, bandage around her head looking for any sign of her team and friends hoping they were all ok. After searching for a bit, she finally found her sister who was sitting down in front of sleeping Blake who was wrapped in bandages in multiple places.

"Yang!" Ruby cried out making Yang look over at her in an instant as relief spread across her face engulfing her sister in a hug.

"Ruby! Thank Oum you're ok!" She squeezed tight, her entire body relaxing at the sight of her sister who was alive and well.

"Where's Weiss?" Ruby asked with concern looking around for her partner.

"I'm right here." Weiss answered while walking over with a dressing covering her right eye and side of her head. She walked into the hug looking down at Blake taking in a deep breath, relieved to see all her teammates and friends made it out alive.

"Have any of you seen the Jaune's or JNPR?" Ruby asked as Yang nodded in response.

"Yeah, I saw Ren and Nora come through. They were beaten up, but ok for the most part. They said hi to me then ran off towards an infirmary room, apparently, John, Sparrow, and Pyrrha got hurt really bad." There was a frantic look within Ruby's gaze as she looked on at her sister. "I'll watch Blake. You two go on ahead."

Ruby and Weiss ran down the hall towards the room Yang saw their sister team enter without hesitation. The duo opened the door to find Puppy, Jaune, Nora, and Ren sitting in chairs in front of an unconscious John and Pyrrha. Nora, Ren, and Puppy were banged up, but there was nothing drastically different about their current state of health. Jaune was bandaged up beyond belief as he sat with a pained look within his eyes. Ruby gasped at the sight as she was right at Jaune's side.

"What happened?! Where's Sparrow?! Where's Reaper?! Why are you all so beat up?! Who could've hurt you all this bad?! Whe-"

"Ruby!" Jaune yelled making his friend go silent.

"One question at a time Rubes. Seriously, we've all been through enough today so let's go about this slow." Jaune rose his voice in an utterly exhausted tone looking a little worse for wear with Puppy Arc sharing the same exhausted attitude.

"I'm sorry Jaune!" The Reaper shrunk away behind her cape and partner eyes full of regret at his sudden outburst.

"It's fine Ruby, you're lucky I'm a good listener. The Grimm King attacked leaving John and Sparrow in bad shape," Jaune looked to Ren for a few moments before the stoic ninja nodded.

"Sparrow had to be taken into Atlas's care for his cybernetics to be repaired since Penny's father was the one who created his limbs in the first place, Penny escorted the Atlesian doctors there herself." Ren said as he recollected what he was told when they wheeled the Cyborg's body out of the infirmary.

"Reaper is around here somewhere," Nora said with a bit of concern. "He wanted to be left alone. He looked really shook up after everything that happened at the colosseum." The bomber grew quiet out of a mixture of exhaustion and concern for their friend.

"Cinder beat the shit out of Pyrrha, Puppy and me." Jaune said as he looked back to Ruby for a few moments. His gaze was soft and full of pain as he turned toward his partner. "But luckily we were able to beat her when Reaper showed up. Even worse though, with how badly Pyrrha got hurt she's...she's in a coma. We don't know how specifically since we showed up too late, but he doctors say they have no idea how long it will take for her to wake up." Jaune said as he looked down. He slumped further in his chair and took in a massive breath as he tried to think about what to do next.

"Jaune, I think you need some rest. Both you and Puppy Arc. Same for you two as well" Weiss inquired giving the two a stern yet concerned glare while eyeing Nora and Ren as well. The heiress looked to her leader for any objection, only to see the distraught nature upon Ruby's face rise.

"I-..." Jaune started with protest, only to be met with a knowing gaze from Weiss. Jaune let out a tired sigh soon after. you're right...I'll go back to my dorm. C'mon guys we all could use some rest." Jaune stood up and walked over to Pyrrha, kissed her cheek, and said silent prayer for her to recover. He exited through the doorway with his teammates, Puppy, Ruby and Weiss following suit.

(Re-Jaune)

Re-Jaune waited for them all to exit before opening his eyes and looked over at Pyrrha with a pained gaze.

'I failed...she didn't die but...look at her. She got hurt because of my failure...because I wasn't strong enough...' He swung his legs out from the bed tearing the IV from his arm clutching at the still healing chest wound. Re-Jaune limped over to Pyrrha propping himself onto the side of her bed; staring down at his partner's still form.

"I can't do anything for you Pyrrha. With all the power I have, all the skills I've attained and hardships I've been through I can't do a damned thing to wake you up. It's all on you Pyr. You have to wake up for Jaune, for Nora, Ren and all of your friends in this world. I swear on my life and name that the next time you wake up, you'll have nothing to fear and see a world where the Grimm have no leader, where Salem and Noctis are dead. Arc's promise." He whispered teardrops staining her bedsheets and streaming down his cheeks as Re-Jaune's body hitch, yet he did not move from her side.

(Sparrow)

The unconscious form of Sparrow was wheeled into Professor Polendina's lab with the elderly man flanked by assistants along with Penny who was giving a diagnostics report on her unconscious companion.

"Penny dear, is our friend here stable?"

"Yes father, he is stable and the anesthetics will keep him under for the procedure. Have you examined the extent of his cybernetics?"

"I have Penny and I have to say this will be quite the experience. I will not only rebuild this man's cybernetics but improve them as well. General Ironwood tasked me with creating new experimental combat cybernetics that are very similar to our friend here. I will use the remains and make of his limbs to model his new limbs."

"Please aid my partner to the best of your ability. I will assist in any way that I can." Mercy popped up as a hologram standing on Sparrow's chest, scaring the assistants pushing the cyborg's stretcher and making Geppeto smirk at the revelation of the AI.

"Hello, professor. My name is Mercy and I am agent Sparrow's AI companion. I will give all the assistance required to ensure that my partner's recovery is swift and beneficial."

"Good to meet you Mercy. I promise to give my best in helping your companion and improve his combat efficiency."

"I will help with everything I am capable of." Mercy smiled as they entered the cybernetics lab.

"Capital, then let us begin."

* * *

 **Chap done. Nothing too exciting compared to the last chapter. Is anyone curious as to how Re-Jaune was weaker? Hehe, you'll have to wait to find out!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Noble:** **Hey been a while but here it is my bruddas. Another chapter hope everyone enjoy! Funny thing too, it's actually my birthday today. The big 21 and I can't even go to a bar and order a beer cus of this stupid Virus! Oh well, give me a present by Reading and reviewing!**

 **Sparky: Also, we don't own anything that isn't our respective ideas. All characters in this story belong to their res** **pective owners and RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth**

 **Blaisengfire: Puppy Arc**

 **Masseffect-TxS: Restart**

 **SparkyDapperDab19: Reaping with Sorrow**

 **Noble4259: Being Human**

 **Beta Reader: SparkyDapperDab19 and Masseffect-TxS**

* * *

Deep within the heart of the Grimmlands, Salem glared through the Seer as Cinder bowed before her. The Invasion of Beacon had not gone to plan, not only did they not possess the Relic of Choice, but they only had half the Fall Maiden's power. Failure on occasion was inevitable, considering what she was facing along with her resources at hand. It was the reason why deception and doubt were her strongest weapons and not all out war.

But this was unacceptable.

"I am not happy, Cinder." Salem said as her posture was lax upon her throne, yet her piercing gaze never faltered in putting the fear of the Brothers in Cinder. "Not happy at all. The invasion was set off ahead of schedule and without my permission. And the results are pitiful." Cinder bowed low as Salem's words cut like a knife.

Cinder could only let Salem's words burn her from within for so long as she lifted her head and opened her mouth, but Salem put her hand up to prohibit her from speaking. "Did you secure the relic?" She put her hand down to allow Cinder to speak.

"No..." Cinder said.

"Did you claim the rest of the Maiden's power?" Salem continued. Yet gave her a glare that let Cinder know what answer she was expecting.

"No." Cinder growled.

Salem leaned forward with more intensity within her glare. "Did you even kill Ozpin?" she nodded.

"He was taken care of. I incinerated him."

"That wasn't my question." Salem spat back before she gritted her teeth.

Cinder paused before she looked down. "No."

"That's right." Salem said. "You didn't. That temporary power of yours did." Salem took a breath as she leaned forward from her throne. "Let me tell you what you did do. Instead of realizing we weren't even close to ready for the attack, you decided it was the perfect time to raise havoc in Vale, allow one of my pets to destroy a tower, and subject yourself to an unnecessary defeat all to needlessly injure an inconsequential student because of a petty feud."

"But Lord Noctis claimed to work for you! I only followed-!"

"When did I allow you to speak?!" Salem growled. Cinder buckled from fear and bowed low.

"Where was I? Oh yes. You were seduced by power that came to you at random. Power that I have no knowledge of giving, nor do I have any knowledge of a man named Noctis. Clearly the power went to your head because the notion of reporting this unknown variable to me the moment you made contact with him wasn't your first decision." her words were like continuous and relentless lashings as Cinder only seemed to shrink as Salem went on.

Salem took a moment to close her eyes and catch a breath. Before she narrowed them with a ferocity she had only shown Ozma. "I believe everything I just said sums up your loyalty to me as well as how capable you are at accomplishing the most minimal of tasks. Hazel or Tyrian will come to collect you and your... colleagues. You can try to resist, but I believe they can handle a half maiden."

With that, Salem's last call ended, leaving Cinder for the first time in a long time, afraid.

 **(Reaper)**

Reaper couldn't help but feel anything but ease as he stood in a place that gave him both clarity and discord. The memories were annoying as ever, but he couldn't lie and say there was an odd peace within him as he remained still on one of the roofs of Beacon. The rooftop held a special place for him as it was the place that changed his life not once, but twice.

Reaper looked over at the aftermath from Noctis's attack and shook his head as he removed his mask. The sight of destroyed buildings along with the mass of negativity brought him back to the night in his world where he was partly responsible for the destruction. From the Atlas machines he destroyed, all the way to his duel with Pyrrha on the very roof he was standing on. Reaper never believed in fate or destiny, but the similarities between their worlds was getting ridiculous.

'What a mess...' Reaper thought as he looked down at his mask that he held in both his hands and couldn't help but feel that the eye slits were glaring back at him.

'It's at least better than John's world but it's still rough. Sparrow's having to be rebuilt, Pyrrha's in a coma, John's fucked up, Ozpin's dead, and just to rub salt into the wound Noctis destroyed the top of beacon tower. It's nuts.' He took a seat at the edge of the roof and looked up to gaze at the distant decimated tower reminding him of the last time he and Sparrow talked. Thinking back to when he revealed the true nature of his smoke after listening to Sparrow's reason for being a cyborg. Two Arcs with such similar tragedies but under such varied circumstances.

"I'm sorry, Sparks." Reaper said to himself as his grip tightened upon his mask. He couldn't help but grit his teeth as his body still felt raw from Noctis' control. He could see what he was doing and feel horrible in the process, but there was barely anything he could do to control himself. It was the first time in a long time he felt completely helpless.

His breath suddenly hitched and he dropped the mask before wrapping an arm around his stomach as pain coursed through his body. Reaper closed his eyes forcing himself not to wretch from the truth of the matter.

Everything hurt.

It shouldn't have bothered Reaper as much as it did, but no matter how many times he practiced his breathing or tried to meditate, there was no end to the constant aching that enveloped him. The silence across the desolate battlefield of Beacon gave him no comfort nor did the still night sky. It was like a shadow of discomfort had engulfed him and has kept consistent with the pain.

All because of a power-hungry servant who had no idea what kind of power she had.

Adam was cannon fodder compared to Cinder, but not when it came to an actual fight. Now that Reaper thought on it, he had never really had a fight against her in his world. She did revert his powers for a short time via Pyrrha's aura, but Amélie was the one who had her sights on Cinder, not him.

What Cinder had over Adam was corruption. Even if he didn't absorb the Grimm King's power from Adam, he could still tell the difference. Adam was just a blind follower who used his power to get revenge and was drunk off it, but Cinder…

She was hungry.

It was a hunger that nearly made him collapse just like when the Grimm King had full control over him the first time they met, but just like with Noctis, there was no staying power. The hunger within him disappeared only moments after absorbing Noctis' power from the power-hungry maiden. What made Reaper's hands tremble though, was how good it felt when he took the power away from Cinder. It made him feel more like he was before he fell into the Grimm pool.

But what comes up must come down.

Reaper covered his stomach with his arms and closed his eyes. His breathing grew short as the mixture of hunger and pain ate away at him as if he was consuming while being consumed. Reaper's breaths went from short to heavy as he did his best to remain still, yet lowered his hood. He wasn't a religious person, but he prayed to whatever of the two Brothers would hear him to make the pain stop. That urge to find more of Noctis' followers rose. The hunger within him desired more power and Reaper knew it would never be enough. It was a notion the hooded Arc never wanted to be affiliated with. Reaper knew what kind of person he was, but he refused to be like this. He refused to be as hungry as Cinder. He refused to be controlled by anyone or anything.

"Jaune?"

Reaper's head perked up at the voice that slipped its way through the silence of the night and on sheer instinct, he pulled his hood over his head, yet remained still in his spot.

"Jaune is at the infirmary with Pyrrha." Reaper grumbled as he knew who was coming up from behind him.

"That's not who I was talking about."

Reaper turned slightly to his right and saw that a bruised and scratched Velvet Scarlatina sit down beside him. Reaper kept calm, but he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't bothered by her beaten appearance.

"Are you okay?" Reaper asked.

"I hurt all over, but my team and I are alright. Still, it wasn't easy."

"I agree." Jaune said as he winced at the sharp pain within his stomach. He looked over to Velvet and noticed her torn up attire and the mixture of dirt and blood that caked her face, hair and ears. "Is your sister okay?" Reaper asked as he tilted his head toward her.

"She got hurt pretty bad. She and her friends were attacked at the festival. Broke an arm."

"I'm sorry." Reaper said as he looked down at his legs.

"She wanted me to say thank you for helping her back at the warehouse," Velvet said as she folded her arms over her knees and leaned forward. "and for helping me get away from Adam."

"You're welcome." Reaper said. He had the urge to smirk, but he suppressed it.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" Velvet asked as she tilted her head to try and see his face, but all she could really notice was that his jaw was clenched.

"I don't go by that name anymore." Reaper said as he turned to Velvet to show her his decaying face. A flash of horror passed by Velvet's face for a moment, but Reaper was surprised to see how quickly it passed.

"There has to be someone who doesn't call you Reaper all the time." Velvet said as she turned her gaze to meet his eyes and gave him a smile.

Reaper took comfort in the small moments of silence before his red eyes met her rich brown orbs. He ignored the pain as he swung his dangling legs and leaned back a bit with his arms propping him up.

"Besides team JNPR and Ruby Rose from my world, only two people call me Jaune anymore."

"Who are they?"

Reaper paused at the question and let his left cheek erode into nothing but bone. He looked back at Velvet and decided she was his best chance to get his mind off the pain for now.

"My two new teammates, Amélie and Sombra." Jaune looked up and smiled at the thought of them. "After I… changed, I met some people that helped me. Sombra was one of them. She was the team's intel expert." Jaune's gazed dulled a bit before he let out a quick breath. "And a pain in the ass when she wanted to be."

"I'm sure she's not too ba-!"

"Imagine a very intelligent Nora who has a self-centered moral compass and a knack for digging up dirt on anyone." Reaper said abruptly.

"Oh… Oh my."

"Yup." Reaper said as he popped the P, making a small speck of smoke fly off his lips. "Still, when it came to the job, she pulled her weight. So, I couldn't really complain."

"And Amélie?"

"Amélie was… is my partner." Reaper said as his gut tightened at the mention of her, yet he couldn't help but smile as he looked at Velvet. "She's definitely something. Some could say emotionless. Yang would definitely ask her constantly why she'd look so blue." Reaper snickered at the thought and Amélie's probable reaction.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Amélie's heartbeat is really slow so her body temperature is lower, and her skin is blue."

"Oh," Velvet said with wide eyes. "That's quite a semblance."

"Yeah," Reaper said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Makes her a damn good sniper."

"And I agree." Velvet said with a short giggle. "Your world's Yang must have had a field day with the puns."

Reaper maintained his neutral expression yet looked forward and narrowed his eyes at the mention of his world. "Not really. We were too busy trying to kill each other for jokes."

The laughter within Velvet died within her throat as she remembered what he told her in the bullhead after he killed Adam Taurus. "Did they really change that much?" Velvet asked with worry apparent in her voice.

"I honestly don't know, Velvet," Reaper said as he lowered his hood and took a deep breath. "I'm pretty sure this world's Beacon wouldn't react the same way mine did when they found about the transcripts."

"Transcripts?" Velvet asked.

"I forged my credentials and got into Beacon by lying." Reaper said. He saw the surprise jolt through Velvet and couldn't help but smirk at the reaction.

"Did Jaune also do that?" Velvet asked with bewilderment.

"You really need me to answer that?"

"That's fair…. Not nice to say, but fair."

"Besides," Jaune said as he nudged behind him to the damaged facility of Beacon Academy. "I'm pretty sure after everything that has happened, no one would care."

"That's true," Velvet laughed and shook her head at the sight. "He's been through enough to earn his spot in Beacon."

"He has." Reaper said with a nod. "Unfortunately, in my world, only Ren, Pyrrha, Nora, Ruby, and your team were the only ones who felt that way." Reaper leaned forward and made a fist with his right hand and cupped it with his left. "It was like a switch turned on within everyone that turned them into everything a huntsman wasn't supposed to be. Especially with Weiss, Blake, and Yang."

"That must have been rough. But I think I understand a bit." Velvet said as she had no idea how to feel about the scenario. She was just thankful her and the rest of her team in his world didn't feel that way as the rest of the student body.

"I'm sure you do." Reaper said as he quickly glanced at Velvet's ears. "It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure." Reaper said with a sigh. "RWBY and JNPR were later sent on a joint mission in the Forever Fall. Ruby and I got attacked by Grimm while the teams were gone gathering food and supplies for the shelter. I patched her up yet was blamed for it. They thought I lost it and attacked her."

"Did you really?" Velvet asked, only to receive a harsh glare from Reaper. "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"It's fine." Reaper said as he hunched a bit in his spot. "I can see why you'd ask. But I didn't hurt Ruby. I couldn't hurt her." Reaper's closed his eyes and released his fist from his grasp and laid down. "The people I mentioned before weren't mad at me, but Ruby never treated me differently. She had to be a leader to her team, but she refused to be like them. I'm not that deranged to attack her while everyone was gone."

"Okay." Velvet said. "I'm sorry for thinking otherwise."

Reaper nodded and decided to lay down on his back and folded his hands atop his stomach. "Well later on, the people who thought and truly believed otherwise hunted me down. Yang, Blake, and Weiss didn't hold back, and I won't lie and say it was horrifying to think they wanted me completely gone."

Velvet remained silent and Reaper closed his eyes once more. "After a lengthy chase and the worst beat down, I've ever taken, I found myself thrown into a pool of tar. It's what makes the Grimm and when I climbed out, I was like this. The rest is history." Reaper finished as he was surprised how much that took his mind off the constant pain.

"I take it you still haven't forgiven them for what they did?" Velvet asked as delicately as she could.

"I won't ever forgive them, Velvet." Reaper said as he opened his eyes and looked out to the stars. "I've definitely changed from what you all view Jaune Arc as, but I wasn't the only one. They are just as bad if not worse than the ones responsible for tonight."

"As strange as it sounds, I'm relieved you and the other Jaune's came instead of them."

Reaper couldn't help but chuckle at her comment as he curved his eroding lips up into a small smirk.

"What's so funny?"

"I was partly responsible for tonight in my world. I don't know I just find it funny I'm on the other side now."

"Do you regret doing it?" Reaper looked to Velvet and noticed her gaze had hardened into a glare.

"I regret Ruby and my old team got involved. Ruby's team is a whole other story." There was silence on Velvet's part as Reaper matched her gaze. "If you saw them, Velvet, you would feel the same way."

"I'm glad I never have to." Velvet said with a flat tone. Reaper could see she wasn't particularly happy with him.

For a brief moment, the hunger was quelled within Reaper as the notion of being in this world gave him comfort. "Me too Velvet. Me too."

 **(Salem)**

"Watts," Salem called out over the grand table she had her loyal subordinates sit at. "Send Tyrian and Hazel to Vale immediately. I want Cinder and her group back here within the week."

"It will be done my queen," Watts said as he stood up from his seat and properly bowed. "Is there anything else you desire?"

"Yes, I want you to research everything you can about the Arc family. Cinder wouldn't stop rambling about an elder Arc and I want to know-"

 **"It's amusing to see you play such childish games, Usurper."**

Salem's eyes narrowed at the unknown and unwelcomed voice. Just like how the voice slipped its way through the silence, a being did the same as it revealed itself and chuckled while it leaned against a column right behind Watts. Salem froze for the first time in centuries, completely dumbfound of how someone managed to slip right in through her defenses and sneak up on her undetected.

 **"It's like watching a child play with matches. The end result is always watching the child get burned,"** and his power, the vile sick power that radiated off him…

It frightened even her.

"Impossible…How did you get past my sensors?" She breathed barely audible.

 **"You mean those little sentry guards you have around my domain."** He pointed to the Beowolves that parted for him.

"Your domain!?"

Noctis only nodded.

 **"Yes, Mine. Well once they recognized who I was, they easily let me through."** He walked around her as he looked upon the crystal throne.

"Impossible, the Grimm serves only me. Who are you?" Salem gritted her teeth at the silence and darted her head in his direction. "Answer me or I shall have your head placed upon a spike!" She demanded as dark hands began to rise from the floor. Noctis only smirked as his hand radiated with red aura and he merely waved his hand, realizing a large pressure of wind that scattered them to dust.

Salem and Watts stared with wide eyes as the pale horned man grinned.

 **"All right, if you must know…"** he turned around and gave a mocking bow. **"Allow me to introduce you in my self-given honorary title, Noctis Noir Arc…or as I usually was called: the Grimm King."** He smirked with sharp teeth as Watts shrunk back in fear. Salem, however, scoffed at the notion.

"The Grimm King? Really?" Salem asked with a blank expression. "The Grimm King was a story told to children of my time to scare them into behaving. According to legend, the real Grimm King was slain by the God of Light in the last years of the Dark Ages. Its death signified the beginning of mankind's creation." Noctis chuckled at this.

 **"I was a little curious about why they didn't initially recognize me. So, I was slain by the God of Light in this world? Hmm… Light always was a bit of a prick, when it comes to destroying my brethren. Course, he is the God of Light and Life, whereas I was born from Darkness and Death… No wonder he wanted to kill me."** He mused as Salem digested his words.

"This World? What do you mean this world?"

 **"Oh, that. Well, it's simple, I'm not from this world, I'm from another that's a little more…ahead of the time, then this one. Watts there can tell you all about it…"** his form shifted into a dark mass it spread out as the man's eyes widened. **"…Or do you not recognize your little test tube subject, Doctor?"** his voice rumbled and echoed as he grinned before retaking his form.

"B-by the Brothers! It's you! The anomaly I found in the Forever Fall!" Noctis snapped his fingers.

 **"Bingo Bango, doc!"** he laughed as Salem turned to him.

"Watts, explain."

"Do you remember when I reported the strange lights that appeared over Vale? One of these lights slammed into the Forever Falls Forest and produced this large Grimm that I had never seen before. It was without shape or coherent form. I had it contained and shipped to one of my offsite labs in Vale, hoping to receive a report from you. It came along with a journal that detailed our entire plan for the Vytal Festival. It was one of the reasons I asked to look into this Arc fellow. But the subject had escaped shortly afterward. I assumed it was under your control and merely slipped away to follow your orders…."

 **"Oh, I'm not under anyone's control, Doc. I'm my own free Grimm, I can do whatever I want."** Noctis grinned as he walked around the pair. **"See those lights that you saw, that was the result of one of Doctor Merlot's little experimentations. It accidentally ripped opened a hole into the Multiverse and pulled in five unwanted guests. One of them being me."**

"So, you are from another world, one similar to this one?

 **"Yes. See in my world I was not 'slain' by the God of Light. I bowed just as my brethren had when father ordered us to stand down. But after you lead your rebellion and mankind was wiped from the surface, I was given a momentous task."** Noctis closed his eyes and smiled at the memories that flooded his corrupted mind. **"I would be augmented with new powers and sealed within the Dark Pools of my Father's domain, only to be unleashed when mankind had failed their final test."** He smirked with glee.

 **"And because of your ambition and stubbornness, Salem, mankind failed yet again. Your little plan to usurp the Gods once more ended in failure and I was unleashed upon the world. It wasn't quick like the last time. They had to suffer for their arrogance and their greed, till eventually there was no one left…so thank you for that Salem."** Salem growled as she clenched her fist.

"So, your world turned to dust and mankind was extinguished?" Salem asked as she tried to wrap her head around the situation at hand. Her eyes narrowed as the horned Grimm-Human smile reverted from sinister to soft in a matter of seconds.

 **"Almost, there was…one…that managed the impossible, a man that I greatly respect more than anyone in my lifetime. He managed to kill me in our final battle and proved that humanity wasn't as weak as the Gods believed them to be. In doing this he somehow managed to reverse time back to when I was still sealed in the pits.** " He gripped his fist.

 **"At first, I was furious, thinking that I would have to wait in that cursed pit until my inevitable arrival. The warrior I know no longer existing in my time. But when I found out he had traveled back with me, I realized that this was an opportunity for me…an opportunity to have our second battle and change the world forever."** He turned back to her as he grinned.

 **"But before I can do that, I must deal with you, Usurper. So that he can focus on his one true nemesis. Not some power-hungry wannabe God who murders her own kin."** He grinned when a look of fury entered her eyes.

 **"I do wonder though…what was it like, slaughtering your own children?"** Salem's power surged as the windows cracked all around them. Noctis only tilted his head to the side as he knew exactly what button he pressed. **"Snuffing out their tiny lives before they even had a chance to bloom into maturity? It must have killed you on the inside. Broke whatever's left of that cold heart of yours…I especially wonder what was going through your children's mind…as their own mother burnt them to a crisp."**

Fire enveloped Salem's hand as she roared with fury and blasted the Grimm King with a massive ball of fire. The heat from the flames so intense it melted the stone walls. Watts recoiling from the heat and flames, as Salem poured her magic in a blaze of fury.

"You have no right to mention them!"

Her voice boomed with fury as the man tumbled back and slammed into the wall. She summoned forth a powerful storm as lightning surged around her and she sent it towards the King. The lightning blasting into him as it surged and slammed through roof pounding him into the floor. She then fired powerful blasts of energy at him as they exploded with violent tenancies.

The castle's walls shaking and crumbling as she continued to pummel the man into the ground. Her rage consumed her as memories of her children passed through her mind, the looks of fear as her and Ozma's attacks inevitably killed them. Tears leaking from her eyes as painful memories resurfaced after so many years of bottling them away.

She cast one last spell as the walls cracked and large boulders buried the man under rubble and dust.

Salem breathed in heavily as her rage and anger slowly subsided and she regained her senses. She observed the damage as she waited for any sign of the man that had dared to bring back the memories, she had long since buried away.

"Um…I think you got him, mistress." Watts said as he slowly got up and dusted himself off.

Salem kept her eyes on the rubble before nodding. Right before the rubble exploded and dark energy poured out in waves of pure evil. Salem and Watts stumbled back in horror as the man stood before them. His entire form shrouded by black and red energy before it slowly subsided and no injury was present anywhere on his person.

Fear gripped their hearts as the man opened his blood-red eyes and smirked.

 **"I have to admit, that was pretty good."** Noctis said as he placed a hand on the back of his neck and cracked it. "If I was any other Grimm, I would've been a smear on the floor right about now." He commented at the destruction. **"But like my adversary when he was brought back in time, I too was affected by the temporal shift. I have gained a new power; one I believe is a…distorted replica of my rivals."**

Faster than she could react, she felt his armored hand against her throat as she was hoisted into the air. "Allow me to show you."

He held out his left hand as it surged with black/red aura. Tendrils of darkness snacking out and latching onto Salem as they burrowed into her body. Pain like she never imagined surged through her as she screeched in pain. The energy circled inside her, as she shrieked. Feeling as if her life force being drained from her body. A satisfying grin spread across his face as he ripped out two orbs.

One was blood red, the other was gold, before he smirked and absorbed the red orb. Salem gasped weakly as she felt her body become frail and weak. "Do you feel it, Usurper. Do you feel death embracing you?" he asked as Salem began to decay into dust.

 **"This is my new power, an altered version of my Rivals Semblance. His was the ability to give power and amplify …mines, is the ability to take. I call it…Consumption."** She gasped through a drying throat, as her body became like that of a frail old woman.

 **"I used it to take away your magical powers and your curse. Freeing you of the burden you carried for so long…Of course, this is nowhere near what I should be capable of in my world. An effect I assume from traveling to another dimension I assume?"** Salem for a moment felt at peace as she felt trued death lurching before her. Right before he shoved the Golden Orb back into her chest.

She cried out as her body glowed and it returned to normal. He dropped her to the ground as she gasped for air. Her eyes looking up in disbelief as the man smirked down at her.

 **"Oh no, no, no. I'm not going to allow you to die just yet. Oh no, I have plans for you Usurper."** She thrust her hand forward hoping to blast him with her powers. Only to gaze in horror at the lack of magical energy.

 **"And I'm going to make sure you have a front-row seat to it."**

He heard several growls as he was soon surrounded by the Grimm. Salem chuckled as she struggled to stand up. "You…may have taken…my power…" she grunted as she stood on her feet. "But I still have the Grimm. My spell still holds sway over them. They serve me…"

Noctis held up his fingers as he snapped, and a large pulse of energy blasted off. The Grimm struggled for a moment as their red marks glowed before slowing bowing. Noctis grinning with delight as all the Grimm bowed before him.

Salem searching with muted horror as the Grimm defied her orders. **"You forget, according to Legend, the King of the Grimm could command all Grimm."** She fell to her knees, as his red eyes glowed and he towered over her kneeling form.

 **"And the King…has returned."**

He snapped his fingers. **"Take her away, lock her up in one of the towers…she should feel right at home."** He commanded the Grimm as they grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away. Kicking and screaming as she did.

 **"And what of you, Watts?"** he turned to the man hiding behind the pillar. **"What should I do with you? I didn't particularly like being shoved into a test tube…perhaps I should scoop out your brain and shove it into a vial, use a portion of her curse to keep it alive. See how you like it?"** he threatened as he stalked towards the trembling man.

The man cowered as he drew closer with sharp claws…only to stop as he bent down to him.

 **"Unless you can provide me with something of value, of course?"** the man opened his eyes as Noctis smirked. **"Like for example, a certain scientist that could mutate my fellow brethren and who was working on a machine that punched a hole into the dimensions…** " he smirked.

 **"Would you be able to assist such a man?"** he asked with full intent, as Watts swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

"I-I believe so?" Noctis grinned.

 **"Wonderful,"** he spoke with an eerily cheery voice as he hoisted the frightened man up and placed an arm around his shoulder. **"You know, Watts…"** he said as he led the man away.

 **"I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."**

 **(Beacon)**

"Do you think John is awake now, Jaune?" Ruby asked with concern apparent within her as they walked through the infirmary. Students were littered throughout the halls either injured or assessing the injured. The dead were already cleared out and reports were being made as they spoke.

"He should be." Jaune said as he looked out a passing window to see that the sun was coming up. "Noctis did a number on him so he'll still be bedridden but should be up now. That's why we're bringing him a tray of food to get his strength back." Jaune held up the small feast making Ruby giggle. The two made their way to Johns's room and Jaune knocked on the door.

"John?" Jaune asked as he opened the door. "It's us. Was able to get you something to e-!" Both Ruby and Jaune stopped in their tracks as they looked on at the empty room. They scanned the room for any sign of John but his bed was empty and his sword was gone.

"Dammit John!" He shoved the tray into Ruby's arms before sprinting out of the hospital.

"Jaune! Wait!" Ruby called out.

"You tell the staff about this, I'll go find him!" Jaune called out before he kicked up his speed while ignoring the aching within him.

"Where would he go?" Jaune asked as he was wracking his brain for all the possible places that his older counterpart could go.

'He wouldn't go out into Vale, there'd be no point to it. Emerald Forest is a possibility but with how destructive John can be I'd probably be seeing trees flying everywhere. Where would he be?"

 **(Forever Fall, Re-Jaune)**

"Stronger...stronger...have...to become...STRONGER!" Re-Jaune roared tearing through yet another swarm of Grimm, corpse after decomposing corpse trailed in his wake in a seemingly unending swathe of destruction. Thousands upon thousands of forever fall leaves fell from uprooted trees; destroying the natural beauty of the Grimm infested forest. The elder Arc fell to his knees, blade stabbed into dirt covering the battered sword in mud and filth. His hand dug into the ground and rose up again smashing into the ground shaking the very earth beneath him. Any trees that weren't uprooted fell in tandem from his strike.

'How could I have failed? This damned...multiverse bullshit...made me weaker...' He shook his head wanting to stop the tears from falling but couldn't.

'Pyrrha's alive...in a coma...because of my failure. I'm in a different universe and I still couldn't save her.' The time-traveler fell onto his back staring up at the falling leaves and blue sky, sun beaming down on him making the Arc close his eyes and take a deep breath in an effort to regain his composure. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with. Given that the last time he felt like this during his time in the Forever Fall was when he died for the first time.

"You know John, you're a pain the ass to find." Re-Jaune sighed at the sound of his younger counterpart's voice. There was no grace to be had as he got up to his dirtied feet, only to look at Jaune.

"It took me some thinking to know where you'd be. I even reread your journal to give me some clues."

"And you know that I died here. That this was where it all ended and started for me again." Re-Jaune stood to his feet staring into the same sapphire eyes of this worlds Jaune.

"I failed."

"We didn't stop the attack, but cinder didn't win." Jaune clarified.

"Ozpin was still killed." Re-Jaune spat.

"And Pyrrha wasn't." Jaune retorted. "I'm not saying her situation is even remotely good, but I'm happy she's still alive."

"It's my fault, Jaune! The Grimm King is here because of-!"

"Did you throw yourself into a dimension altering machine?" Jaune suddenly asked. Leaving the two of them silent sans the fall breeze.

"I've been asking myself a question since after the attack." Jaune said as his hands balled up into fists. "If I didn't get hit with that beam, would this attack still happen? Would Pyrrha be awake? Would she have been killed?"

Re-Jaune remained silent as his blade hung by his side.

"Whether I like it or not, I do know that I brought the Grimm King here." Jaune's words died in his throat as his hands trembled. "I honestly don't know if we can even get remotely close to beating him, but I have to try. We have to try, Jaune. We made a promise to set this all right. That's a promise that us Arcs have to keep."

Re-Jaune stood there as a much younger Jaune just dumped a motherload of truth onto him. The fight between him and Noctis was proof that he was still stuck in the past. He believed he had to kill Noctis alone like last time.

But he wasn't the only factor anymore.

"Your right." Re-Jaune said as his sword tight and handed it back to Jaune. "But we ot a lot of work to get done. First on the list is getting you stronger."

"Then let's get started." Jaune responded nodding in confidence.

"We need to get us some new weapons first though. There anyone we can go to?" Re-Jaune asked making Jaune scratch his chin.

"I think I know someone who could help."

* * *

 **Chapter done, read and review!**


	19. Chapter19

**Been a bit but I am going to try and update this story every two weeks to make consistent updates. Support me on Pa/treon if you like my work! www. pa/treon / noble4259. co m there's some sweet rewards for those who support me!**

* * *

"Got a weapon you want specifically want to make John?" Jaune asked as the arc 'brothers' made their way through a run-down, but not destroyed Beacon. Due to the attack, school wasn't in session anymore, but the growing presence of Grimm made it a strong base of operation to any remaining Huntsmen staff as well as some upper classmen who volunteered to help.

"I have a few ideas." Re-Jaune said as he rubbed his chin. "A collapsible shield reminiscent of Pyrrha's that can deploy at will, My blade on the other hand..." Re- Jaune snickered as he remembered his old weapon. "That is something I'll have to talk to her in greater detail about."

"Why's that?" Jaune asked.

"It's the complete opposite of Crocea Mors," Re-Jaune replied while tilting his head up in remembrance. "Simple is the last word I would use to describe it and if I had the original on me, I may have stood a chance against Noctis."

"What happened to the original?"

"Lost it during the interdimensional trip," Re-Jaune said before a wave of frustration overwhelmed him. "As well as my clothes."

"Looking back on it, that newspaper article was pretty funny."

"Yeah, yeah." Re-Jaune said with a sour gaze and placed his hands in his pockets. "Still, if I had to choose anyone to make another version of it, it would be Ruby."

"What was the weapon called?"

Re-Jaune smiled as he remembered holding his weapon for the very first time. "Retribution." he said while giving his younger self a glance as well as a grin.

"So, this one will be Retribution, Mark Two?" Jaune asked, to which Re-Jaune frowned.

"Not…Exactly," Re-Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head. "It'll still have the same design and power behind it, but the other mechanisms will take too long to make. The best I can probably do is add a cannon into the blade in place of Retributions other features." He said as Jaune looked confused.

"A cannon?" his younger self asked as Re-Jaune smirked.

"One way to pack a punch, huh?"

"Oh yeah." Jaune said. "Hopefully we'll be able to see it soon. Are you going to help Ruby make it?" he asked as Re-Jaune rubbed his chin before speaking looking at his younger self.

"To a degree," the time traveler started. "Mostly give Ruby the design and let her create it. Considering she made something like Crescent Rose all by herself I'm not worried."

The Arc 'brothers' nodded in agreement as they finally made their way down the hall coming upon the forge moments later. They both saw Ruby rocking back in forth waiting for them and the Rose flashed over the moment she saw them, giddy as she could be with her eyes shining and her smile as wide as humanly possible.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting?!" Ruby asked almost frantically.

Jaune paused for a moment at the sudden but enthusiastic question before he held a finger up. "Ten minutes and forty-seven seconds?"

Ruby and Re-Jaune blinked at the blonde knight's answer before Ruby's eyes widened. "Y-Yeah actually." she said before looking at her scroll and noticed that was the exact amount of time it had taken.

"Anyways," Re-Jaune said after giving his younger self a bewildered look. "Thank you for doing this, Ruby."

"You've come to the right person John!" Ruby said after shaking her head and focused on the task at hand. "We'll make it the greatest weapon ever! Well...second best weapon ever, right behind Crescent Rose!" Ruby brought a hand back to her beloved tool of destruction rubbing it fondly. Jaune rose an eyebrow while Re-Jaune chuckled and shook his head, reminiscing on how the Ruby he knew acted the same way.

"Of course, Rubes. Let's get to work now huh?"

"Heck yeah!" She left behind a flood of rose petals swinging the forge door open with the Arc duo following closely behind.

 **(Reaper)**

The shadowy form of Reaper floated through the vents of Beacon Academy with a melancholy that contrasted his usual frantic nature. It was odd for the hooded Arc to travel at such a pace, but he knew he didn't need to rush nor did he want to.

A soft sigh escaped Reaper as he exited the vents and found himself in Beacon's infirmary; Particularly in one room he dreaded being in. He took no pleasure in becoming whole as his tired red eyes fixed themselves on the unmoving form of Pyrrha Nikos. Puppy was also present as he laid at the foot of the bed and in between Pyrrha's feet.

The two locked eyes for a moment before Reaper drifted over to her bedside. He looked back to Puppy and noticed he had rested his head down once again and turned his attention away from Reaper. A smile formed under Reaper's mask for only a moment before his attention turned back to Pyrrha. Reaper looked on at her peaceful form and couldn't help but reach hand out to her cheek, moving a strand of hair that had gone astray.

"Cinder's still out there," Puppy said with almost a growl. Reaper turned toward his teammate and noticed the dog's attention was fixated on the door with a determination he had never seen before.

"You think she would come back here and finish Pyrrha off?" Reaper asked.

"I wouldn't put it past Cinder. No one has seen her since we beat the shit out of her." Puppy almost growled.

Reaper rose an eyebrow at the sudden profanity that usually never came out of the optimistic puppy.

"I've been keeping tabs on any updates in her search, Velvet and her team are helping out too." Reaper said with apparent disdain. "So far, the authorities have found nothing." Reaper turned back to Pyrrha and his eyes softened at her still face.

"Is this your first time?"

"Huh?" Puppy asked as he rose his head and turned his attention to Reaper.

"Your first time seeing any of them like this?" Reaper clarified while his gaze remained focused on Pyrrha.

"Yeah…" Puppy said as he got up and carefully made his way up the bed and sat next to Pyrrha's head. "I take it this isn't the first time you've seen her like this?"

"It is, actually." Reaper said as his voice quivered just enough for Puppy's right ear to twitch. "I've seen her hurt, but nothing like this."

"Did something like this happen in your world?" Puppy asked.

"Yeah," Reaper said with a nod. "Beacon fell, but I was able to save Pyrrha."

"Oh…" Puppy said as his ears flattened at how Reaper currently felt.

"Last time I saw her this still, was right before I turned into what I am now," Reaper said as he couldn't help but tighten his fist at the memory. "She and the rest of my team were given sedatives to knock them out while Ruby's team tried to kill me." Reaper paused for a moment as he fought back the memories. "I never thought I would see that same look now."

"What's your Pyrrha like?" Puppy suddenly asked. Reaper looked up and noticed his teammate was sitting upright and had tilted his head with curiosity. "Is she any different?"

Reaper looked down at Pyrrha before he closed his eyes for a moment and recollected everything he remembered about his Pyrrha. "She was… worried." Reaper said. "After seeing what happened to me, she was always worried about me, worried where I was, where I went after I left her, how I felt about everything," he let out a huff of amusement before shaking his head. "She worried about me so much, that she forgot to look after herself sometimes."

"Doesn't sound too far off from the rest of us to be honest." Puppy said before looking down at Pyrrha and smiling. "It's funny how different we all are, and yet she stays almost the same."

"Yeah…" Reaper said before he sat at the side of Pyrrha's bed and took off his mask. Puppy's ears perked as Reaper lowered his hood, yet he refused to look at the two other occupants.

Puppy narrowed his eyes with curiosity as he saw the blonde fringes of his inter-dimensional counterpart and decided to let it be.

"Thank you, Pup." Reaper suddenly said, which made the pooch tilt his head with sudden confusion.

"For what?"

"For keeping her safe," Reaper said. "If it wasn't for you and Jaune…"

"Hey," Puppy said as he walked all the way around Pyrrha and sat next to Reaper, "If it wasn't for you, Sparrow, and John, Adam and Noctis would have done a lot more damage."

"Have you heard anything about Sparks?" Reaper asked as he refused to look down at the pooch.

"Nothing yet, but I think he'll be okay. He's us after all."

"True," Reaper said before he went still in the silence.

"I gotta go take a leak," Puppy said before he hopped off the bed. "Mind watching her while I'm gone?"

Reaper said nothing. Instead, he simply nodded.

"I'll let you know if John gives us any updates on what to do next." There was a silence between the two and right before Puppy pushed the door open, he stopped and slightly turned his head toward Reaper. "Hey," he said which earned the attention of the hooded Arc. "None of us blame you for what happened to Sparrow. We know what Noctis did."

Puppy heard nothing for a few moments and decided it was time to leave, but the moment he opened the door, he could hear a faint sigh of relief escape Reaper.

 **(Jaune and Re-Jaune)**

"I know this is sudden Jaune," Re-Jaune said as the two were now standing in the middle of the run-down training arena. "But we need to train if we're going to be able to take on Noctis. Now we don't have a lot of time considering that son of a bitch will be impatient if we don't go after him soon. So, I'm going to put you through hell the next few days and testing the true limits of your semblance." John had his arms folded staring at Jaune with intensity, the younger Arc's forehead sheen with sweat before he let out a shaky breath.

"First I'm going to teach you how to properly manipulate your aura." Re-Jaune continued as he paced back and forth in the arena. "This is an advanced technique. but can be quickly mastered with the right tutelage and instruction. First things first, will your aura over your body as you normally would."

Jaune nodded at his older self and did as he was told, closing his eyes and feeling the aura enveloping his body.

"Good. Next step is where it gets a little tricky." Re-Jaune said as he inspected Jaune's work. "I want you to focus all your aura to a single point, your fist or arm for example then keep it there. When doing this you can either keep the aura there to increase your defense where a blow that could be deadlier can be nearly completely stopped or discharge the aura to hit harder." There was a pause as Re-Jaune gave the blonde knight a serious look. "But be warned, when doing either of these techniques it will drain your aura, so use it wisely and only for emergencies. It's what saved my ass countless times in my world. Give it a try and don't worry about messing up you're going to just don't get discouraged."

Jaune nodded before gripping his right forearm tightly, scrunching his face concentrating on trying to bring his aura into the limb. He grinded his teeth together while his entire body struggled to will the aura forward. Jaune felt his aura start to flow to his arm but he quickly lost his concentration and fell to his back with heavy breaths.

"Fuck!"

"Jaune it's fine, you did well for your first attempt." Re-Jaune said as he walked up to Jaune and held out his hand to grab. "Almost had the aura to a single point. It's all about repetition. Now do it again and remember to breathe slowly and concentrate."

This continued until nightfall with Jaune growling in frustration and Re-Jaune staring on like a master observing his student.

"One...more...time!" Jaune declared flowing his aura to his arm and only his arm. His eyes grew hopeful starting to brim with confidence as his aura stayed locked in at the point and he threw his fist up screaming in victory.

"FINALLY! Oh, my Oum that took so damn long!" Jaune kept his concentration still holding the aura in place.

"Excellent work Jaune. Now, I'm going to strike your arm and if you did the technique correctly you won't have a fractured limb." Re-Jaune said before he crouched like a Beowolf ready to pounce, making Jaune's eyes go wide.

"Wait what did you just say?"

Jaune took a step back in fear and as soon as he did this Re-Jaune rocketed forward rearing his fist back to strike his younger self. The young Arc held his aura infused up ordering his aura to focus everything to his limb and not to waver. The time traveler's fist impacted his arm sending Jaune sailing through the air tumbling in the ground hard, nearly driving the air from his lungs slamming against the arena wall in a heap, all while coughing up spit.

"Impressive." was all Re-Jaune said as he stared down at his fist that now dripped slightly with blood, all while feeling an odd familiarity from Jaune's aura more than he previously did. Jaune stood up shakily blinking wearily and stumbling towards his time traveling counterpart still seeing stars.

"Gods above! John! Are you trying to kill me?!" He dusted himself off rolling his arm that blocked the punch.

"Of course not. The real question is, how's your arm?"

"It's! - fine actually." Jaune said as he moved his arm around. "There's a huge bruise but other than that it's ok. Holy shit!" Re-Jaune nodded with a smile internally beaming with pride for his younger self.

"I told you, it's something that can be learned fast with the right instructions. I'm proud of you." The time traveler stared back at his fist letting his aura mend his wounds but felt something in the injury that much too familiar. As if he struck something infused with his aura.

'Wait a minute...I felt something there...' He looked at Jaune with his brow furrowed and started to put things together. "Jaune, I want you to use your semblance on yourself and hit me with it. Don't ask why just do it."

Jaune nodded letting his semblance course through his body feeling the energy pulse and light cutting through the darkness of the night.

'Now I'll find out for sure.' John planted his feet as Jaune lunged toward him fist coming faster than he'd ever been able to do without his semblance activated. The elder Arc took the blow directly to the chest grunting slightly in pain already feeling a bruise forming from the impact. He dug his heels into the ground as he was pushed back, tearing up the ground beneath him before coming to a halt and staring at Jaune with eyes full of shock and realization.

"Oh, my Gods I know what's going on now." He said out loud much to Jaune's visible confusion as he deactivated his semblance.

"What was that John?" Jaune asked completely out of the loop as Re-Jaune threw up his arms and turned to face the younger Arc.

"It all makes sense now. Why I'm not as powerful as I was and why I lost to Noctis!" John gazed into the same sapphire eyes as his own.

"What? What made you lose?"

"Jaune, our semblance has always been amplifying aura. It allows us to heal ourselves and others while providing us with strength. But yours changed. It gave you the power to make yourself and others even stronger. Stronger than even my Semblance, and I know why it changed."

"Why? What made it different?"

"The power I lost, the reason why I'm weaker, I think it is because that power I'm missing is now a part of your semblance!" Re-Jaune said in realization pointing at Jaune making the knight freeze.

"Holy shit." Was all that came out of Jaune's mouth summing up the Arc duos thoughts exactly.

 **(Noctis)**

 **"So..."** Noctis said as he rubbed his chin with curiosity. **"This is the machine that brought those Arcs an myself? Interesting...very interesting."** Noctis stared up at the massive piece of machinery scratching at his arm turning around to look at the now resurrected Merlot and terrified Watts. It was hardly any effort in locating and reviving the good doctor and Noctis was more than pleased with Merlot's newfound enthusiasm.

"Yes, my lord! I made it to further improve my research! To see if there were other foreign Grimm in worlds unknown to this one, but I'd never thought that it would bring a being such as yourself! I am truly grateful to be in your presence and my services are at your disposal." Merlot bowed as deeply as he could making Noctis chuckle and eventually laugh shaking the very building they stood in.

 **"I already like you Merlot."** Noctis said as he patted the revived doctor's shoulder. **"Now, how does this machine work? And is it capable of bringing us more eager volunteers?"** He stared down at the old man who hobbled over to him starting to type away at his console.

"I can only access the worlds of those who have already passed through. Each one already has a name that was automatically inputted into my database. Your world is called the Restart universe, another is called the Being Human universe, the other is named Reaping with Sorrow universe, and finally, the last one is named the Puppy universe...as odd as that one sounds."

 **"I see. Well then, I think it's time for us to even the numbers don't you think Merlot?"**

"But of course, my liege!" Merlot said as he turned in his chair and looked on at his lord. "Usually, I would need samples from subjects to attract their alternate selves into this universe, but because I had an entire organism thrown into the machine, we have much more room to work with."

 **"Excellent,"** Noctis said with a chilling chuckle. **"I'll have to thank this worlds Jaune for throwing himself into the beam in the first place."**

"As shall I, my lord." Merlot said with a twisted but enthusiastic smile. "Now, I have narrowed down some individuals that I believe would be of great service to you, but you will always have the final say. If you approve, all I have to do is press this button," Merlot showed as he pointed to one of the many switches on the control console. "Everything is primed and ready."

 **"Excellent work, Merlot,"** Noctis said as he leaned forward and saw the list of five candidates. **"I thought this would take longer."**

"Of course not, my lord," Merlot said with nothing but compliance. "It was easy to narrow it down. I already brought you here from your nemesis' universe, and the mutt's universe didn't have any potential assets, but the other two… I think you'll like what they have to offer.

 **"Very well. Proceed."** Noctis sat down on a small throne he had conjured from a few Grimm resting his chin on one hand waiting for the machine to start.

Merlot started to laugh as his machine came back to life. Arcs of electricity and energy pulsated through the air as the wind came from nowhere. Finally, five beams of light appeared in front of them. The first one showed a silhouette hauntingly similar to Reaper with red eyes cutting through the beams, the second revealed the form of a Faunus woman whose eyes were filled with malice, the last three revealed two surprising individuals as they resembled those Jaune Arcs friend, with the last one lacking an arm and another lacking an arm and a leg.

 **"Hehehe...oh you've truly outdone yourself Merlot."** Noctis clapped for his underling with satisfaction staring at the five figures with glee.

"What in the fuck?! where am I!?" The new Reaper growled not sounding like the other one at all having an even deeper and raspier voice.

"You said it tall dark and mysterious. I was just about to start a new torture session." Ember Rot giggled remembering that Adam had brought her a few Atlesian soldiers to 'interrogate'.

"Where in the… Who are all of you?! What am I doing here?!" Blake growled with bags under her eyes while her gaze darted everywhere.

"Funny, that's the same question I'm asking, Partner," Yang growled cocking back her only arm back with Ember Celica aiming at her ex-partner.

The final person continued to sit in silence. What was left of her white hair that covered only half of her head was singed and wiry. Her blue gown showed the Schnee symbol, but any pride that family upheld was absent in her apathetic eyes.

 **"Now, now, there is no need for that."** A haunting voice spoke out as they all flinched. Each of them eventually looked up at the throne before them. Some were confused, but most were furious as they saw what they believed to be a pitch black Jaune Arc. **"You all must have many questions and I will answer them in time." four out of five of them opened their mouths to speak in defiance, but one glare made them all revert to silence, which made Noctis grinned.**

 **"Although I am surprised to see three of my old friend's allies amongst us, and so… crippled."** he eyed the Schnee girl in particular. **"I admit I am curious as to why they are against him in Reaper's world? But I guess a friend in one world is an enemy in another?"** he smirked as Blake and Yang glared at him.

"Who the hell are you? And why the hell do you look like that bastard?!" Yang growled as the King grinned.

 **"So much anger, I will enjoy using you little Dragon."** He smirked as her eyes glowed red and her hair sparked to life.

"Just try it you bastard!" she yelled and prepared to fling herself at the man. Only to have arms of darkness rise out of the floor and hold her down. Reaper-World Blake stepping back in horror, preparing to use her semblance to escape, before arms grabbed her as well and nullified her power.

 **"Now, now, there is no need for such violence."** He mockingly explained.

 **"I know this must be confusing for you all."** Noctis said as he stood form his throne. **"But know this, as of right now you are my new minions, and I am your master. Your King, and rightful ruler of this Gods forsaken planet. Treat me with respect and I will give you all power beyond your wildest imaginations. Refuse?** " the arms gripped tighter around Yang's body as she cried out in pain before letting them go.

 **"And well...I will make sure you never return to your worlds. Now kneel."** .Noctis spoke with a calm voice, but let his power be known to his five new minions forcing them to the ground with his presence alone. He rose an eyebrow when seeing Reaper stand back to his feet eyes glowing in fury.

"Fucking...bastard...if I can...resist Salem...I can resist...you!" He made a single step forward but didn't get another when he Noctis appear before him in an instant. Startled, he materialized his shotguns and aimed them at Noctis. But didn't get a chance to pull the triggers feeling a hand wrap itself around his neck lifting him off the ground. Reaper tried to shift his form to escape, but his body refused to obey him.

The black mist that made up his body flickered and sputtered out of control as he let out a ragged gasp from the pain.

 **"My, my, you are powerful. Nearly as powerful as the other Reaper…but whereas he has my friend's stubbornness, you are in no position to act out or turn my underling. Kneel before your king…or I will make your suffering a hundred times worse than you could ever possibly imagine!"** pure darkness leaked from his voice as it caused the man to quake in his soul.

 **"Do we have an understanding?"** he asked as the man nodded in pure fear. Noctis grinned as he dropped him to the ground.

 **"Good. In time you will know what is happening and where you are. But first, you all need to match me. And I must warn you, this will hurt...a lot."** Noctis chuckled pouring his essence into the five seeds of pure darkness and shoving them into their bodies. The five began to twist and bend at unnatural angles as he relished in their agony. Their screams were delicious.

* * *

 **And chapter done. Read and Review! Support me on Pa/treon if you like my work! Just google my pen name and you'll find my page!**


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